Shadows of Friendship
by Joey Taylor
Summary: A thousand years ago, Princess Luna was twisted by a dark power into becoming the terrifying Nightmare Moon. A power that was born in Equigpt thousands of years ago. Now the Summer Sun Celebration has come around again and a young unicorn will meet her destiny...
1. One Shall Stand

**One thousand years ago in the Castle of the Two Sisters.**

Celestia was beyond tired as she gazed up at the form of the Alicorn who had once been her most trusted companion and best friend and beheld the monstrous power of the newly forged Nightmare Moon. The dark blue coat of the mare floating in the skies above her matched the midnight blue of her mane, the stars shimmering within the flowing clouds made of the night sky matched the ones twinkling above and if it had not been for the silver armour gracing her form, Celestia would have almost been fooled into believing that the Alicorn above her had faded into the night.

She had been a foal to think that she had stood a chance of talking her sister around. Ever since Luna had gone to Saddle Arabia and come back with all her notes on the strange, dark magic she had encountered there, she had been different, twisted, and this new form, this dark dangerous form, would destroy all of Equestria and everypony within it.

And as much as it hurt to think about, the Alicorn of the Sun could not let that happen. Still she balked at what she knew she had to do. She did not even know if she could use the Elements of Harmony on her own, yet alone whether the rainbow power that protected her country was strong enough to erase the dark taint from her sister's mind and soul and bring Luna back to her.

"Please, Luna," She tried one last time, "You know what you're doing is wrong. Our ponies can't survive in your night. They need the day to grow food. Without the sun they'll starve."

"You lie." Nightmare Moon bellowed back, rearing up at her. "You just want to keep them for yourself, want to keep me pushed aside forever and keep them loving only you. Well no more. I'm done playing your games, dear sister, and my night will reign eternal!"

"No, Luna." Celestia's voice was firm as she pushed herself to her feet, her muscles trembling beneath her pure white coat at the effort it took. She shook her head as she staggered, trying to shake some of the dust from the destroyed castle out of her glowing rainbow mane, "I'm sorry but I can't let you kill them. Not now. Not ever."

"And what do you think you can do against me?" The Alicorn formerly known as Luna demanded with a harsh, victorious laugh as the dark purples and blacks of her strange magic, the magic which had allowed her to overpower Celestia so easily, surrounded her once again, warning the Sun Goddess that her sister was preparing to strike, possibly for the last time. "You are weak, defeated, there is nothing in your arsenal that can handle my power now."

"Oh my sister, how I wish you were wrong." Celestia breathed as she called up her magic, calling on the power that she had taken in a long time ago, when she and her sister had stood side by side to defend their home from those who would have seen it destroyed and knowing that this would either end the battle or end her, "How I wish that there was another way, but if I cannot defeat you, then I have no other choice."

"W…what are you doing?" The tainted Moon Goddess demanded as six glowing balls of light erupted from her staggering, nearly defeated sister and circled her in a steadily faster motion that soon looked like one circle of light, "No, I will not let this happen! You will not seal me! I won't go, not again!" With her final exclamation the dark Alicorn loosed her magic, which only seemed to grow in strength as it sped towards the light, seeming to feed from the incredible power before it.

For Celestia time seemed to slow down as the tidal wave of what could only be described as shadows rained down upon her, breaking over the hastily cast shield she had erected and washing down the sides, tainting the land around her as it swept outwards.

"My sister, my precious Luna," Celestia spoke, unsure if her words would reach her best friend from wherever she was within the crazed mind of the one calling herself Nightmare Moon, but praying they would, "I am sorry and I swear to you by everything we treasure I will find a way to free you from this dark madness. When you return, when a thousand years have passed and my seal breaks, I will have found a way, even if it costs me my life, for in losing you, I have already lost everything I treasure…"

"You think you can seal me?" Nightmare Moon snickered, "I, who defeated the Alicorn Princess of Equigpt and had the world bowing at my feet? Who talked your precious sister into turning her back on you after you did the same to her far too many times? Who could erase you and your precious Equestria off of the map with little more than a thought and a little push?! It took Her life to seal me before, you think you can do it with a light show and a prayer?"

"I don't know who this Alicorn you talk of is or what magic she used to defeat you before, but I don't plan on sealing you forever." Celestia allowed, "Only long enough to give me time to find the way to exorcise my precious sister of you, demon. You who dares think that you can claim Luna's form and speak using her voice. In a thousand years I will see you again and my sister will be freed!"

With that she let the power of the Elements loose. They erupted from their circle in a blazing beam of rainbow brilliance, cutting through the continuing surge of shadows and striking the dark Alicorn. Celestia stood firm as she heard Nightmare Moon scream as the blast hit, knowing that she had done this and if she did not see it through, it would be a betrayal just as bad as pushing Luna away until her sister had been tempted enough to fall to the ancient dark magic in the first place.

"No! Nooo!" Celestia could hear from the twisted creature above her, "I can't…I won't! I will not let this end this way!" The whinny, somehow, could be heard over the noise of the blast, "When one thousand years have passed I will return and I will bring my night and you will see me reign forever!"

Those were her final parting words. As Nightmare Moon tried to call up the darkness for one last strike, the magic of the Elements of Harmony blazed up and cocooned her in a kaleidoscope of colours. Celestia's eyes watered as she beheld the great, glowing orb in the sky, which shone like the sun and scorched away the darkness lying upon the ground and the ruins of the castle.

Then it was gone. Vanished from the skies, taking its prisoner with it. Celestia did not bother to blink and clear her eyes of the sunspots. Instead she turned her gaze upon her sister's moon and felt relief mingle with grief as she saw an image appear upon it. The outline of her sister's head and neck, proved to her that her desperate seal had done its job. That, at least for now, Nightmare Moon was no longer a threat.

With her sister sealed away, the Sun Goddess had no trouble in raising the sun once again, as she had done every morning for uncountable years and then, exhausted, as if seeing that sun and realising that it was finally over, she fell to her hindquarters.

She did not even get a chance to utter one note of grief before she let out a startled and pained cry as the Elements, which she had found and recovered with her sister's aid, erupted from her, forming six spheres in the air. The Element of Magic shattered, disintegrating into ashes and blowing away in the wind, while the other five, the Elements of Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity and Honesty, petrified into stone.

The heavy marble spheres slammed to the ground around the Sun Goddess, who could not take this in on top of the battle that she had just brought to an end and she stared around at them blankly, unable to comprehend what had just happened, despite the facts before her. She stared at the Element of Loyalty for long enough that the sun was high in the sky before it finally hit her and she broke down in tears, screaming out her heartbreak to the heavens above.

Her sister was gone. The Elements of Harmony, the shields of her ponies, had abandoned her.

She was all alone.

She did not want it to be so. She wanted to do something, anything to take it all back, to head off the dark insanity before it had ever been able to take root in her precious sister but it was too late and the path was set and for the next one thousand years she would have to fight alone.

"How?" She begged the skies, "How can I fight on now? How can I protect our country when the bond I thought would never, ever break has shattered? When I had to send away the Goddess of the Night? When I had to betray my sister?"

There was no answer from the skies. The earth either did not hear her or did not care to answer and the Elements, which had served her and her sister so well remained within their stone tombs and would not break their silence either.

The emptiness where once her sister would have answered ripped at Celestia's heart as she staggered to her feet, knowing that her ponies would need her now more than ever and trying to draw strength from her duty.

She had one thousand years to find a way to atone for her failures and with every minute that ticked by, her chances of finding the key to saving her sister from the demon that had merged with her heart grew slimmer.

She did not have a moment to waste.


	2. An Old Acquaintance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. They belong to their rightful owners and I am just a writer who likes to play in their worlds. I make no money from these stories. I just enjoy writing and sharing them.**

 **Author Note: This is a NaNoWriMo novel that I am posting up in chapters. It's a little rough but please bear with me. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Canterlot; Current Day.**

"Please, Twilight?" Spike begged, the purple baby dragon fell to his knees, his forepaws coming together in front of him in a pleading motion as his bright green spikes quivered in time with the excited trembling of his body, "White Lightning never, ever shows off his new stuff in Canterlot. He ALWAYS does it in Manehatten. I know you don't duel much anymore but can I go, please? Please?"

"Spike..." Twilight hesitated. She knew how much her friend and in some ways child, enjoyed it when her former classmate released the new DuelRune packs for public use. Before White Lightning had invented them, the card game she had enjoyed as a training tool at her mentor's school had been nothing but a simple game to anyone who wasn't using its summoning techniques, spells and traps as a way of fine tuning their control over their magic.

Ever since the DuelRune Grids had been released, however, Duel Monsters had exploded in popularity right across Equestria. The grids allowed non-unicorns to do what the more magically inclined had been able to do for years and the ability to see and hear the monsters battling as the two players duelled had pushed what had been an offshoot training tool into an insanely oft played thing.

For Twilight herself the DuelRunes did not mean much. They were well made and she enjoyed looking them over and trying to work out exactly how her former classmate had managed to make them work. However she had stopped playing the game for fun about a year or so ago, unless it was against Spike and she no longer needed the game to help teach her control over her magic.

For Spike however, who had enjoyed the game back when it had just been a simple card game, it was a huge step and he wanted to be there every time an upgrade was released. "Please, Twilight?" The baby dragon begged. "We're supposed to be on holiday anyway."

That made Twilight grimace. It was true that the school she attended, 'Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns' had let out so that everypony could go home for the Summer Sun Celebration, but her elder brother was Captain of the Palace Guard so he had not been able to come and see her and her parents had gone on vacation for it. This meant that she and Spike were on their own for the celebrations, which, in all honesty she planned to sleep through.

"Spike, it's..."

She did not get to finish her sentence before Spike produced the book she had been searching for from the library and grinned at her, "You could take it with you." He pointed out, knowing exactly which buttons to push, "And I wouldn't be too far away if you needed me to take notes. It might be fun."

Technically her baby dragon friend was right, he would be right there with her if she needed him. However she knew full well that if she tried to catch his attention once the display had started, she might as well be talking to a brick wall.

"Spike this is really important." Twilight tried again. The purple unicorn flicked her multishaded tail in her irritation that no one seemed to understand that for her research was fun. Bar a good, challenging game of Duel Monsters, there was nothing she enjoyed as much as burying herself in her books and learning new things. "I know there's something about this Summer Sun Celebration that..."

"Please?" Spike latched onto her left foreleg, "Please, please, please, please? I won't ask you for anything for a month!"

"If I ask you to take a note or a letter will you actually pay attention to me?" Twilight asked him with a sigh, "And when I say it's time to leave will you actually come with me this time?"

Spike blushed as much as a purple dragon could and scuffed the floor sheepishly with his foot at the reminder of the last time that they had gone to one of these demonstrations and he had successfully kept them out until late into the night.

"I swear on my comics." Spike told her, his tone solemn as he crossed his heart.

"Alright, but let me pack my saddlebag." The delighted cheer and momentary tightening of Spike's grip before he darted off to grab his deck was reward enough for conceding and she let out an amused, yet exasperated huff before using her magic to pack the bag which had the same pink star surrounded by darker purple ones as her cutie mark.

In went the book she had been after, closely followed by quills and parchment so she could make her own notes while Spike was distracted. However she hesitated before packing the small fabric case with her cards in. She still enjoyed the game, but it was a distraction that she did not need.

"Ready Twilight?" Spike asked, practically bouncing in his excitement. She jumped a mile, shoving the last few things into her bag, including her deck, without looking and levitated it onto her back. Spike jumped up next, his own deck strapped to his hip via a holster she had had made especially for him for the previous Hearth's Warming Eve.

"I still don't know if this is such a good idea." Twilight told the baby dragon clutching onto her sides as she cantered towards the door. "It would be much easier to do my research here." She hesitated by the door, almost loath to exit into the bright sunlight outside.

Spike almost complained. He would have done in fact if he had not noticed the slight tremble under him, as if Twilight was shaking. "Twilight?" He asked, worried for his friend and the unicorn who had hatched him. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine." Twilight took a deep breath and stepped out into the sunlight. It was not that she was agoraphobic by any stretch of the imagination. In fact she enjoyed curling up under a tree with a good book as much as the next pony. However it had been years since she had seen White Lightning in the hoof. The white unicorn stallion had been a fellow student at her school and had forever been battling her for the top spot. Right up until the accident, Lightning had been one of the most competent wielders of magic and had matched her in almost every subject, especially in Duel Monsters though he had never quite managed to defeat her in either marks or at the card game.

Then then accident had happened. No one was quite sure what had happened, but she and White Lightning had been duelling in the school courtyard when his step-sire had interrupted and at some point during the conversation the two stallions had had afterwards, Lightning's horn had been broken and his access to his magic lost.

She had not seen hair or whisker of White Lightning since that day. He had withdrawn from the school the next day and his step-sire had passed away soon after, leaving the young stallion in charge of the massive company that his step-sire had run.

She had not duelled anyone but Spike since that day and it was slightly nerve wracking to think that Lightning was in her neck of the wood again. Still she knew she was being silly. He probably did not even remember her and she had much more important things to worry about, like why this Summer Sun Celebration, the thousandth in Equestria's long history, worried her so greatly.

The crowd had already gathered when they arrived in the plaza at the centre of Canterlot and Twilight was more than happy to drop Spike off at the crowd's thinnest point and retreat to a nearby café to have a bite to eat and read her book. The baby dragon weaved amongst the hooves of the excited crowd with practised ease and found himself a perch at the front of the gathered horde that would allow him to see everything perfectly.

Twilight tried to tune out the excited hum as she ordered a daisy sandwich, settled at a table and pulled her book out of her saddle bags. It was not easy, as every so often she would catch a word here or there that would catch her interest. However once her sandwich had arrived and she had found the section of the book she was looking for it was almost like the world around her melted away, leaving her in a little bubble of just her, her sandwich and her research.

The roar of the crowd as the demonstration started went completely unnoticed as Twilight read through the section on the Elements of Harmony and found that, frustratingly, there was not much written about them. Instead it recommended she turned to the section on 'The Mare in the Moon.'

That proved much more productive. It spoke of the fact her mentor, Princess Celestia herself, had defeated a wicked mare of darkness, known as Nightmare Moon, using the Elements of Harmony and sealed her away on the moon. However the dark and powerful Alicorn had sworn that when a thousand years had passed she would return and bring night time eternal.

Her defeat had heralded the very first Summer Sun Celebration and it had been celebrated on the longest day of the year every year since, right up until the modern age and as Twilight was already aware, this year was the one thousandth celebration of that day.

"Oh…" Twilight breathed when she realised what that meant. "Spike?!" She asked, wanting him to help her confirm her findings. She glanced around and grimaced when she could not see the petite dragon for the horde of ponies gathered around the glow that could only be an active DuelRune grid. "Oh horse feathers." She grumbled as she gathered up her things and ate the last bite of her sandwich before taking a deep breath and diving into the masses in order to try and reach her friend and scribe so he could send a letter to the Princess for her.

"Excuse me, pardon me," Twlight apologised as she tried to squeeze her way through the crowds. It was almost impossible to see someone as small as Spike for the herd of ponies and no one wanted to move and possibly lose their vantage point. It was good for her in one way because it meant that there was no way her former classmate would be able to spot her. The problem was it meant that Spike probably would not be able to either. Not only that but she was a little worried, considering that she got stepped on twice while trying to find her friend. Spike was much smaller than most of the ponies here and it was quite possible that he would get trampled.

"Twilight!" Her head snapped towards the sound, which, both thankfully and frustratingly was coming from a certain baby dragon who was across the other side of the crowd from where she had left him and was waving at her from the back of another of the colts in her class. She could not help but wince and shy away from the hissing and complaining at the noise, which carried over the sounds of the demonstration. "Twilight, over here!"

A gap opened up in the crowds, allowing her to get to Spike's side easily. She took advantage of it, well aware of the eyes on her as she made her way across to him, including one set that she had really hoped to avoid.

"Ow." Spike's ride was complaining as Twilight reached them, the black furred pony with his silvery grey mane and tail and his white crescent moon cutie mark, had his hoof covering his ear and looked pained, "I do need to be able to hear Spike."

"Sorry Dark Moon." Spike apologised, looking sheepish for all of about two seconds before grinning at Twilight. Before he could say anything or Twilight could ask him to take a letter for her, another voice broke into the conversation.

"Twilight Sparkle?" The young mare flinched at the sound of her name and turned to face the speaker, coming face to face with a pure white stallion of about her age with a short, tidy, brown mane and tail and the picture of the back of the Duel Monsters card for a cutie mark. He smirked as he looked her over, "It is you. Oh good, I needed someone to demonstrate my DuelRune grid on. You do still play, don't you?"

"Well, not for a long time and I really need…"

"Go on Twilight." Spike jumped down from Dark Moon's back and pushed her forward towards the runic grid on the floor.

"Spike!" Twilight yelped, embarrassed and trying not to pay attention to the mutterings of the impatient crowd, "I don't have tim…"

"What's the matter Twilight?" White Lightning interrupted with a slightly vindictive chuckle, "It's just a short demonstration. I would have thought Celestia's prize pupil would jump at the chance to show off a new training tool." He turned away, his tone turning nasty, "Unless, of course you don't think that the Princess is a very good teacher…"

There was a sharp gasp from the crowd before complete silence fell.

"One game." Twilight glared at the white stallion before her, using her magic to plop her saddlebag down next to Spike, "Just one." She snapped as she lifted her deck box from her bag, "And you'll see how good a teacher the Princess is!"

"Then step into the grid." White Lightning gestured to the blue circle on the left of the runic grid taking up a lot of floor space, "And show us."

"Once I'm done," She told Spike as she cantered into the circle and put her hoof on the right sigil, causing the circle around her to glow and activating her half of the DuelRune grid below her, which lit up the same purple as her magic, "I need you to take a letter."


	3. Time to Duel

"No problem Twilight!" Spike nodded, keeping a tight grip on the saddle bag as he returned to Dark Moon's side.

"Since this is just a demonstration duel and apparently your letter is so important, how about we both start with just two thousand life points?" Lightning asked as he stepped into the red circle on the other side of the grid and stepped on his sigil. His side of the grid lit up in a blue that was so light it was almost white, the same colour that White Lightning's magic had always been before his horn had snapped. "Mares first, of course." He gestured to her in a mocking version of a bow.

"Two thousand points is fine by me." Twilight agreed, only to become startled when the box in front of her lit up with the number '2000' in it.

"No more having to do life points manually." White Lightning boasted to the crowd, "The DuelRune grid does that for you."

Twilight was actually impressed as she placed her deck on the square of solid light that had appeared in front of her. It was hard enough to make runes do anything like addition or subtraction without manually putting in the input, yet alone making them remember things. Somehow he was literally getting the runes within the grid itself to change in order to provide the life point counter and while it would mean that you would have to reset the grid for every duel, which meant a little more maintenance, the purple unicorn could quite easily see the benefits and doubted that many ponies would object.

"I summon the Coltic Guardian, in attack mode!" Twilight called as she played her card. The DuelRune grid shone brightly for a moment, then a young Earth pony stallion appeared before her in a swirl of autumn leaves, with a deep, mossy green coat and long, neatly platted, yellow mane and tail, protected by impressive looking silver and green armour and holding a sword between his teeth, over which he glowered at White Lightning.

"Since my Guardian can't attack this turn, it's your move." Twilight continued, gesturing to her former classmate.

"You really have let your duelling skills slip." White Lightning smirked at her, "Come forth, my mighty Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Twilight gulped as her Coltic Guardian was dwarfed by the huge white scaled dragon that appeared in a blaze of light and a crackle of electricity. The mighty dragon seemed to peer down at the opposing creature as if contemplating whether to eat him for lunch. To her Guardian's credit, he did not do anything more than peer up at it in reply as if considering the best way to strike the beast down.

Though Twilight did not appreciate the difference, the crowd did and while some outside the ring of spectators were terrified of the dragon, those who knew enough about the DuelRune grids to know that before the monsters had always been kind of static and nowhere near this interactive, were impressed.

"Blue Eyes!" Lightning called, over confident grin plastered across his features as his three thousand attack point beast stared down at Twilight's fourteen hundred attack point Warrior, "Destroy her Guardian!"

The huge dragon, which was easily the same height as the nearby buildings reared back it's great head and opened its maw, building up a blast of light and electricity before loosing it to strike the Warrior below who did not stand a chance.

Twilight could feel the heat emitting from the light as it passed by her, cutting out as it hit the edge of the DuelRune grid. In front of her, the numbers in the box rapidly dropped, until they were resting on '600'. When the light died down her Guardian had disappeared and Twilight slipped the card into her 'Graveyard' space.

"Well, I guess this will be a short demonstration." The white unicorn looked bored. "Such a shame, I was hoping for a proper challenge from my old rival. It's your move, Twilight Sparkle."

She tried not to grimace at his insulting tone. She was rusty and rising to his bait would not help her win the duel. He had insulted her teacher, yes, but if she did not keep a level head, she would not defeat him.

"One card face down." Twilight spoke after drawing, internally wincing when she failed to draw anything that could help stop the dragon, "And one in face down defence mode." The back of the card appeared on the floor, sideways.

"Is that all you can do?" White Lightning snorted, amused as Twilight considered her hoof full of low level, low strength monsters and seriously regretted not having updated her deck recently. "I don't even need to summon another monster to defeat you, Blue Eyes! Destroy that card too!"

"I activate Spellbinding Circle!" Twilight's voice could barely be heard over the roar made by the huge monster, whose scales shimmered brightly in the sunlight, making the ponies watching almost believe that the dragon was a real creature, rather than just a rune produced illusion.

The noise cut off as the dragon was encircled by a set of glowing concentric circles. Runes appeared between the two rings, while a pentagram appeared in the middle one, freezing the Blue Eyes White Dragon in place.

Its summoner scowled as he beheld what was basically now a dragon shaped statue, "Fine, I play one card face down and end my turn."

Twilight nodded, thinking as she drew her next card, trying not to reveal that she had drawn something good. Instead she put another card in defence mode, "Another card in defence mode and one face down." She called, stalling for time since his dragon could not attack her. "Your move."

"You're wrong, Lightning never loses!" Gloating caught her attention as she watched Lightning draw his next card and she glanced over at the sound to find a white unicorn foal with a long, messy black mane and tail and no cutie mark was gloating to Spike.

"Twilight has beaten him every time they've duelled." Spike reminded the colt, who he had regularly hung around with before The Incident, "Besides, she's only just getting started."

"So am I." Lightning drew Twilight's attention back to the duel by crowing, "Halting my dragon won't save your monsters. I summon Battle Ox, in attack mode!"

A massive minotaur appeared on the grid, wielding a massive axe and glaring around at not only his adversary, but the ponies surrounding the DuelRune grid too. The 1800 attack point monster launched itself forward without direction from his summoner and cut through the face down card which exploded into shards.

"See?" Lightning smirked, "And that's not even the worst my deck can do. If I were you, I'd give up now."

"No way, Lightning." Twilight shook her head, drawing a card and grinning, "I summon the Dark Magician, in attack mode!"

There was nothing for a few moments, then a dark swirling vortex appeared which deposited the unicorn stallion on the card in their midst. The unicorn, whose coat was a sandy, creamy gold, was clad in armour of a purple that was not far from being the same shade as Twilight's coat and clung to his form. His short tail, which was a slightly bluer purple than the armour, poked out from within, while a robe of a different shade of purple went over that. His mane was hidden by a pointy hat of the same purple as the armour and part of which doubled as a face guard and he held a green, metallic staff with his right foreleg, much like the royal guards held their lances in the palace. The stave had an emerald embedded in one end, probably as a focus as his sharp green-blue eyes scanned his surroundings.

He scowled at White Lightning the moment he saw him. The opposing stallion grimaced back, recognising the Magician as one of Twilight's most powerful creatures.

"Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" Twilight grinned as she called the attack. The stallion pointed his staff at the minotaur and blasted it with a ball of purple magic. Lightning's minotaur faded away, taking 700 lifepoints with it.

Before Twilight could even call the end of her turn, White Lightning had drawn, summoned a second Blue Eyes White Dragon and blown her Magician away, taking Twilight down to just 100 lifepoints.

"Lightning! That wasn't fair!" Twilight protested as she realised the equip card she had been saving to activate on her next turn, when she had planned to attack the dragon was useless now.

"Your turn was over. You'd had your attack." He shrugged in reply. "And now your magician has gone and you are one turn away from defeat! Especially after I do this…" He activated a spell card from his hoof, Mystical Space Typhoon, which destroyed her Spellbinding Circle. "Next turn my dragons will end this duel!"

Twilight tried not to wince as she considered the state of the duel. White Lightning could have ended the duel already. He was dragging this out in order to toy with her. The fact of the matter was that he was right. She could not win. Even if she played a card in defence mode next turn, one of his dragons would destroy it while the other wiped out her life points.

"Told you." The unicorn colt gloated at Spike, "My brother ALWAYS wins."

"Just you wait, Flicker," Spike shot back, irritated by his former friend, "Twilight will turn this duel around and win, just you wait!"

Spike was right. She had the tools in her deck that she needed to turn this around. She had a hoof full monsters, but all she needed was the right trap card and she would turn this duel around.

She just needed to believe that she could draw the card she needed…

She took a deep breath and pulled the top card off her deck.

"I play one card face down, one card in defence mode and end my turn." She spoke slowly, hoping that this last trick would work.

"Is that it? Is that all the great Twilight Sparkle can do? I thought you were going to show us just how good a teacher Princess Celestia was?" White Lightning crowed as he drew, "I've been looking forward to a rematch with you for over a year. What a waste…" He drew and smirked, "Well, I might as well make this interesting if you won't…I summon my third Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Twilight could not help stepping back with one hoof as the third dragon appeared on the field. She had never been able to get over just how imposing it was to have the trio facing her down and now was no exception.

"Now, my first dragon, destroy her face down monster!" Twilight's defence mode monster exploded and she flinched back, watching the dragons with hints of fear. "It's all over. Attack with White Lightning!"

The second dragon launched its attack, drawing back its head and firing off the beam of light and electricity directly at Twilight. Ending the duel.

Or would not have done if Twilight had not called out, "I don't think so!" with a grin as she activated one of her face down cards, "Magic Cylinder! It negates your dragon's attack and you take the same amount of life point damage as its attack points!"

The beam of light entered one of the two multi-coloured cylinders and exited the other, shooting straight back at the dragon, who let out a furious roar and shattered into a million tiny, shimmering pieces.

White Lightning's life points hit zero almost instantly.

"I don't remember that being in your deck." Lightning commented, his tone neutral though his expression was anything but. Instead an odd mix of curiosity, anger and excitement featured prominently upon his face as Twilight stepped off of the sigil and packed away her deck.

"I might not have played much since you left school, but I've kept upgrading my deck." Twilight replied with a nervous smile before turning to her companion, "Spike, we need to go."

"But Twilight…"

"Now, Spike." Twilight's tone brokered no argument. The dragonet scurried to Twilight's side as she settled the saddle bag back on her rear. Before he could climb up the unicorn levitated him onto her back and the crowd parted for her again, this time more in awe than anything. Before anyone could say anything about how she had won that duel, Twilight galloped away to somewhere a little more private.

* * *

 **Author Note: Sorry this took so long, but I had to rewrite the duel because when I wrote it for NaNo it was over far too fast. Literally all done in two turns. It ended like this…**

"Blue Eyes!" Lightning called, over confident grin plastered across his features as his three thousand attack point beast stared down at Twilight's fourteen hundred attack point Warrior, "Destroy her Guardian!"

The huge dragon, which was easily the same height as the nearby buildings reared back it's great head and opened its maw, building up a blast of light and electricity before loosing it to strike the Coltic Guardian below who did not stand a chance.

Or would not have done if Twilight had not called out, "I don't think so!" with a grin as she activated one of her face down cards, "Magic Cylinder! It negates your dragon's attack and you take the same amount of life point damage as its attack points!"

The beam of light entered one of the two multi-coloured cylinders and exited the other, shooting straight back at the dragon, who let out a furious roar and shattered into a million tiny, shimmering pieces.

White Lightning's life points hit zero almost instantly.

 **I couldn't post it like that. So thanks for your patience.**


	4. Bad News

"You know," Spike commented when Twilight finally slowed down, "We could have done the letter there rather than racing away like that."

"I didn't want to cause a panic." Twilight shook her head, using that as the excuse rather than the fact that she had felt awkward being stared at by that many ponies and that White Lightning had creeped her out a bit. It did not help her mood at all that seeing his broken horn reminded her that while her special talent was magic, it could be taken away from her just as easily as Lightning had lost his and she did not know what she would do if she ever lost it. "Now please Spike, take a letter."

"Fine, fine." Spike grumbled, pulling out a quill and parchment and putting it to paper. "Ready."

"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight started, smiling slightly as Spike started scribbling it down, rather proud of the young dragonet who had worked so hard to learn how to write. She had been studying under Princess Celestia for as long as the baby dragon had been alive and Spike had been desperate to help her in any way he could. In the end she had caught him copying her written work in a rather sloppy scrawl and had started teaching him in what little spare time she had. "I have been diligently continuing my studies and have found that we may be on the precipice of disaster..."

"Pre-ci…" Spike looked at her in obvious confusion causing her to sigh and remind herself that he was still learning the language. He was a baby dragon after all.

"The edge?" She tried instead, discarding some of the bigger words she had been about to offer in the place of 'precipice' and nodding when Spike wrote that down without a problem. "I have found evidence that the Mare in the Moon is in fact the Alicorn Sorceress, Nightmare Moon and that she plans to return during this Summer Sun Celebration to try and bring an eternal night." Twilight dictated slowly enough for Spike to keep up with her. "Something must be done before this disas… can happen." She changed what she was going to say midword, reminding herself that Spike wouldn't be able to spell it, "I await your reply, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

"Twi...light...Spar...kle." Spike finished the letter off with a flourish and a grin.

"Alright, Spike, send it." Twilight ordered, only to frown when her companion hesitated, "What?"

"Now?" The purple dragon asked even as he rolled up the letter and sealed it with a thin red band. "I mean she's going to be really busy with the celebration, it's only a couple of days away."

"I know, Spike, but that's the point. If Nightmare Moon is returning, then the Princess has to be warned." The mare replied, frustrated, "I've wasted enough in responding to Lightning's bait as it was and it's imperative that she gets that letter right away."

"Imperative?" Spike asked confused.

"Important!" Twilight exploded in frustration, trying not to take it out on Spike but unable to bottle it up much more when she knew she had taught Spike the meaning of 'imperative' last week and still trying to calm down after the duel.

"Alright, but you're allowed to have fun." Spike objected, before loosing a small green flame that seemed to burn up the letter. The ashes floated in the air for a moment before becoming sparkles that shimmered as they shot upwards, over the rooftops and headed towards the palace. "And I bet she already knows. I mean its Princess Celestia. She knows everything."

"Even if she does, at least I've sent my letter. I couldn't just find out that without trying to warn her." The filly replied, feeling a weight lift off of her shoulders as she trotted towards the library that was home. It had not started that way. Originally it had been her and a few books, but over the course of her studies she had steadily built up her own private library of research texts and copies of books she had found interesting in the stacks of the school and palace libraries.

She always felt more comfortable amongst the lengthy volumes than she did amongst other ponies and after running into the one pony she had both looked forward to seeing again and dreaded meeting once again she wanted nothing more than to return to her beloved books and hide until she was certain he was gone.

Spike seemed to know what she needed and the moment they were through the door, he cleared a space for her on the desk and pulled a golden box down from its hiding place behind a huge text on dragon care that Twilight had memorised years ago when she had first hatched him.

Twilight herself dumped her bag by the door and flopped down on the cushion next to the rather worn wooden desk, staring at the box for a few moments before seeming to make up her mind and opening it.

Spike knew why she had hesitated before opening the golden box. It contained the fragments of an Ancient Equigyptian artefact that her dam-sire, Treasure Trove, had brought home from one of his many trips abroad. Supposedly it was cursed but neither Twilight nor Spike had seen evidence of such a thing. Inside the golden box with its odd eye like symbol were about fifty pieces of an ancient puzzle that Treasure Trove had said was 'the ultimate test.' Twilight had been trying to complete it for about eight years.

The baby dragon was not daft enough to try and disturb Twilight when she was working on the bright treasure that looked edible and delicious to him but had an awful taste that had put him off eating it for life. Instead he found his spare cards and started making adaptions to his deck in case Twilight wanted to duel while they were waiting for the Princess to write back.

Twilight lost track of the time as she worked on the trinket. Her dam-sire had told her a long time ago, back before she had even gotten her cutie mark and started studying under the Princess, that the one who passed the test and completed the 'Millennium Puzzle' got one wish and that wish was guaranteed to come true. She was beginning to wonder though, if it was called such because it was going to take a thousand years to complete.

The first pieces went in easily. She knew almost instinctively now which pieces went in which order right up until she was about a third of the way done. Then the difficulty started. She could not insert the pieces by hoof, the puzzle was far too complex and fiddly for that. Instead she had to use her magic to put it together as well as hold it in place. The complex creation was a 3d puzzle, which meant that it would make a statue or something once completed but if she pushed on one piece just a little too hard it would completely collapse and she would have to start from scratch.

More than once she had ruined hours and hours of careful work in such a way and she was extra careful as she started the difficult task of assembling the other two thirds, not that she knew which piece went where or what the end product was supposed to look like.

Spike was surprised when he looked up from his cards to find that not only had it started growing dark, but the puzzle was really beginning to come together in front of the unicorn he looked up to. It looked like an upside down version of one the pyramids that he had seen in a book about Saddle Arabia, which had once been Equigypt. The hoop on the base was new though and looked sturdy, as if you could loop rope or something similar through it and wear the completed thing as a rather large and probably heavy pendant.

"I've done it!" Twilight crowed as she slipped the last bar one piece into place, leaving one last space for a piece to go. She knew which one it was, a piece that was, oddly enough, shaped like the main star of her cutie mark and had an eye symbol on it. Twilight had researched it and it was known as the 'wadjet eye' or the 'Eye of Anubis' who had supposedly been a God in the days of Equigypt. "Just one more piece and…" She froze when she went to use her magic to lift the last piece of the puzzle out of the box and found that it was empty. "Spike!" The baby dragon scrambled to his feet at the panic in her voice, "Spike!"

"What?" He asked as he scrambled to her side, "What's the matter Twilight?"

"There's a piece missing." Twilight panicked, trying to maintain the magic holding the puzzle in place despite the surge of emotions coursing through her.

"Huh?" Spike blinked at her, confused.

"A piece. Of the puzzle. It's gone! The last piece!" Twilight whinnied frantically, "Please tell me you haven't eaten it!"

"No way!" Spike protested, even as he lit the lamps with his fire breath and started searching for it, knowing what Twilight's next question would be. "Tried that once, remember? It was gross. I haven't seen it lying around either."

"It might have fallen out when we moved around for a while." The filly paled beneath her fur at that idea. It was not like she could just buy another puzzle and complete that instead. This one was ancient and one of a kind. Not only that if she could not complete it, she would never pass her dam-sire's test and that was something she just could not live with.

"I thought the box hadn't left the house since Princess Celestia borrowed it? And you had all the pieces then?" The purple dragonet questioned his pseudo-mother as he turned the place upside down to look for the missing gold. Before too long Twilight had put the golden treasure down carefully on the desk and joined him in the hunt which decimated the normally orderly library and left it looking like a surprisingly careful hurricane had hit. One that did not damage anything but did leave absolutely everything strewn across the floors of the multi-storey building.

Despite their best attempts though, the piece was nowhere to be found. Twilight let out a frustrated and despairing whinny as she started getting ready to go look for it outside next, only to pull up short when Spike burped up a burst of green fire and a letter emerged from it, coiled in a red band just like the one she had had Spike send that afternoon, but sealed with the gold wax and insignia of her tutor, Princess Celestia.

"Guess she had a lot to do." Spike frowned slightly as he opened it, "You want me to read it now?"

"It's from the Princess, it could be important." Twilight hesitated by the door, wanting to go and look but knowing that anything from the Princess was more important than her petty concerns even if they involved the puzzle she had poured her heart and soul into for the last eight years.

"My dearest Twilight," Spike read out as Twilight shut the door and turned to look at him properly, shoulders sinking, "It is of great importance that you join me in the palace this evening."

"Really?" Twilight blinked, "Tonight?"

"I will be sending a pegasus chariot to pick you up not long after I send this letter to you." Spike continued, nodding, "Please be ready for a short three day trip before he arrives."

"Now?" Twilight winced, thinking about the missing puzzle piece and realising that she was not going to have time to search for it outside of her home. "She's sending me somewhere now?"

"Guess she's taking your warning seriously." Spike shrugged, "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Yes but…" Twilight had a sinking feeling. Unless Celestia was going to come with her, she had a horrible feeling that she was going to be sent away for her own protection. It was frustrating. She could help. She knew she could but it did not look like she was going to be given the chance.

"What do you want me to pack?" Spike asked, "And what about the missing piece?"

Twilight did not know. She wanted a little more time to go out and hunt, but perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. She could ask the Princess if she had seen the puzzle piece and try to convince her mentor that she could help. "Maybe we'll find it when we're packing." Twilight sounded more hopeful than she felt, "Get together the books I was reading earlier, my recent school notes, the…"

Spike nodded, starting to grab everything on Twilight's ever expanding list. Not that anything was easy to find in the mess they had created when searching. Still by the time the chariot arrived their bags were packed and Twilight had carefully returned the rest of the puzzle to the box it had come in and before Spike could take the last of the bags out, she shoved that in too.


	5. Departure

It was a short trip to the palace from Twilight's library. The unicorn had been assigned her home by the Princess so she was not surprised by that fact, nor that it was the same distance in the opposite direction from the library to her school. It was a boon in most respects as it meant that if she was called to see her tutor or to attend extra classes, as she so often was, she could make it there in a short amount of time.

Today however, she was not entirely happy that the trip was so fast. She had not entirely worked out what she was going to say to the Princess when the chariot arrived in the courtyard of the palace and the pegasus pulling it, a white coated, blue maned stallion with a silver shied as a cutie mark, whose name, if she remembered the introduction properly, was Mirrored Shield, helped her down from the chariot.

"Don't worry about unpacking, Miss Sparkle." Mirrored Shield told her with a smile, "I'll move your things to the bigger chariot, but Princess Celestia was insistent that you go and see her in the great hall immediately."

And if that was not enough to set the butterflies in her stomach off again, nothing was as Twilight headed into the building that was imposing enough during the day time, but was worse right now by the light of the torches and the moon which seemed to be watching them ominously from above. Its shadow laid heavy on the ground, the castle's many spires making the form on the ground look like some kind of beast stretching its arms into the skies as if preparing to strike.

"Get a grip Twilight." The young unicorn told herself, shaking her head and taking a deep breath, before levitating Spike onto her back and cantering in through the main entrance. "You're being ridiculous."

Spike, thankfully, did not say anything, probably assuming she was working herself into a nervous frenzy as she often did when her tutor called her before her. It was ridiculous after the many years of being Celestia's student, but Twilight was no fool. She was fully aware that the Princess could decide that teaching her was too much effort at a moment's notice. The Princess, who some considered a Goddess, ruled over all of Equestria alone after all. Teaching her young student took time away from that important duty and she never wanted the alicorn to decide that she was not worth the hassle.

She just hoped that bringing up what could possibly be an overreaction to an Old Mare's Tale was not the final straw for her and she was not about to be sent home for good.

The guards knew her and Spike rather well and they were allowed through the corridors without much fuss. The only real issue came when she was scurrying through the hallways, heading for the main hall where the Princess heard petitions and held grand parties, when she collided with a unicorn gentlecolt who emerged from one of the side rooms and Spike went tumbling from her back. He only didn't hit the floor because of the fast reaction time of the unicorn she had collided with, who used his magic to catch Spike in an aura of red.

"S…sorry." Twilight stammered to the gentlecolt. He an odd looking stallion whose rather gaudy red suit covered up most of his coat, including his cutie mark and whose silvery lavender mane hid one eye from sight, though she was almost certain she caught a glimpse of gold beneath the tresses.

"No problem Twily-girl." The stallion shrugged it off even as he set down Spike, "I should have been looking where I was going."

"S…Sir Art Nouveau…" Spike stammered, bowing to the unicorn who was easily twice Twilight's age and had been knighted for 'his service to unicorns everywhere' after his game had drastically improved the training of young unicorns across Equestria and beyond as they learned fine control of their magic through playing Duel Monsters. "It's nice to meet you."

Twilight winced as she recognised that Spike was going to gush about how much he loved Duel Monsters and start asking the millions of questions about how it was made and how Sir Nouveau had come up with the ideas that Spike had, at one point, been bombarding her with. They did not have time for that and she let out a sigh before speaking.

"Sorry, sir." She bowed herself briefly, before she picked up Spike and plonked him back on her rear, "But the Princess is waiting. We really have to go."

"A shame, I do so wish to talk with you at some point. I've heard you're rather spectacular at Duel Monsters, even White Lightning was no match for you and he's the best in all of Equestria. You might be just who I need to help me with a project." The unicorn sighed, "But still the Princess can't be denied, have a good night, Twliy-girl." He bowed back to her, "I'll try and catch up with you another day."

"Yes sir." Twilight nodded, "I look forward to it."

He just smiled at her and trotted down the hallways, leaving the young unicorn filly to carry on towards her mentor. Spike sulked a little as they went, put out that he had not gotten to talk to Sir Nouveau for any length of time. It was not until Twilight reminded the baby dragoon that the genius behind the game of Duel Monsters wanted to talk to her about a project of his, which meant that they would be seeing the gentlecolt some point soon, that he cheered up any.

By the time she had managed that, they were almost at the great big double doors that led to the main hall, which, on occasion doubled as Celestia's throne room. While the attempt to cheer up the baby dragon on her back had been a good distraction, the moment Twilight saw those doors the nerves came back with a vengeance.

They were slightly ajar and while she did not normally eavesdrop she could not help but hear the conversation within when she approached the entranceway. Inside her brother, who was Captain of the Palace Guard and the Princess were discussing options for the safety of the palace while Celestia herself was away at the Summer Sun Celebration's main event, which this year was going to be held in a small rural town known as Ponyville.

"My Princess, if I might speak freely…" Twilight's brother sounded tense, not that his sister could blame him. The Summer Sun Celebration was the biggest holiday in the Equestrian calendar and for the last few years it had been his job to organise the safety and security of the Princess while she travelled to and from the various cities it had been held in. If they were taking the threat of Nightmare Moon seriously on top of that, it was a lot for her brother to worry about.

"You're practically family, Shining Armour." Celestia on the other hand sounded calm, almost completely unconcerned, just as she almost always did, leaving Twilight with no idea of how the Princess was feeling, "Your sister's grown up in my tutelage and your relationship with my niece…well…" The Princess chuckled slightly. "Of course you may speak your mind."

Twilight poked her head around the door in time to see her brother shuffle from hoof to hoof, looking embarrassed. She would be willing to bet that he was blushing under his coat too. "Princess Celestia…you realise that if my sister is right and Nightmare Moon is returning, you will be fighting her alone according to your current plans? I really believe that I should sent a platoon of guards with you."

"I thank you for your concern, Shining Armour." Celestia sounded fond, "And that has occurred to me too. However I have yet to attend a single Summer Sun Celebration with an armed guard and I will not start now. Ponyville deserves better than to have their carefully planned events overrun. Besides the one pony I need will already be there, ready and waiting."

"They will?" Shining Armour sounded surprised, "If I might be so bold as to ask, who are they?"

Celestia started to speak, saw Twilight was at the door and smiled instead, "Ah, my dearest Twilight Sparkle, come in. We have much to discuss."

"S…sorry, am I early?" Twilight asked nervously as she entered the room, looking between her brother who looked exasperated and the Princess who seemed oddly amused. The phrase 'dearest Twilight Sparkle' put her mind a little at ease. She obviously was not in any trouble which was a good start.

"No, no, your brother can finish up after I've sent you off." Celestia shook her head, her pale, shimmering rainbow hued mane flowing like water in the breeze coming in through the open window.

"Where am I going?" Twilight could not help but ask, "And why? I could help."

"I know you could, my dear student." The alicorn reassured her, causing Twilight to unwind a little further, "But I have a very important task for you to complete and it's imperative that you do."

Twilight stood ramrod straight at that. If the Princess was entrusting her with an important mission then she would do everything within her power to complete it.

"I'm sending you to Ponyville ahead of me to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration," Celestia informed her, "And while you're there, I want you to try to do something that you've been shying away from since White Lightning left my school."

"Princess?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Make some friends."

"What?!" Twilight yelped, ignoring the poleaxed look on her brother's face. "But Pri…"

"Hear me out, Twilight." Celestia's tone was firm, making the unicorn filly stop to listen. "You are young and there's more to life than your studies. It's very important now that you find other ponies that you can trust and you enjoy spending time with."

"I don't understand." Twilight admitted, though she hated to do so, too caught up in her confusion to realise she was questioning the one pony in her life she had never dared to question before, "Why now?"

"I want you to take this with you." Celestia said, using her bright sun yellow magic to levitate a letter over to her. "And open it tomorrow evening, before I arrive in Ponyville. You'll understand when you read it, but believe me when I say this is your most important test to date."

Twilight still could not believe what she was hearing as she took the letter from her mentor. It was true she had kept mostly to herself since White Lightning had been withdrawn from the school, but even he had not really been a friend. A rival yes, they had competed in everything and they had pushed each other to greater things, but a friend…not so much. There had been no one at the school who had even come close to them by the time he had left and she found herself ostracised for both her grades and for 'her part' in White Lightning's accident, even if she had not been involved in what had happened.

She had no clue how she was going to make friends with anyone from some backwater town where she did not know anyone. She certainly doubted that she would find anyone who held similar interests to her or could match her in learning.

"You know Twily." Shining Armour spoke up, looking between Celestia and Twilight with an odd expression, as if something had occurred to him. "You might start with Duel Monsters. That's something most ponies are interested in."

"But I don't play any…"

"You played today." Spike pointed out, trying to be helpful. "And you're still really good. You could totally make friends that way."

Twilight harrumphed and shook slightly, causing Spike to yelp and dig his claws in as he nearly fell off of her back. She did not want his helpful comments, she wanted to comprehend why she was being sent to complete a test that she did not really understand and was not sure she could complete.

"I'm not going to change my mind about this, Twilight." Celestia warned, her voice stern as he beheld her student's displeasure and confusion. "No matter how much you dislike it. Now, do you have anything you need to get from the palace before you go?"

"No, Princess Celestia." The unicorn bowed her head, trying to get her emotions under control. This was a test. She had been given an assignment and a test. It did not matter how she felt about it, or how little she understood. Celestia would not have given her this test if she did not believe that she could pass.

"Then I'll wish you good luck and look forward to seeing you during the celebrations." The Princess smiled at her, "Shining Armour, would you walk her to the chariot? You can join me in my private study once you've seen her off, but I'm sure you two would like to talk."

"Yes, Princess." Shining Armour herded his sister from the room and back down towards the courtyard. They travelled down in silence for a while before Shining Armour sighed and asked, "Did you pack your puzzle?" to break the silence.

He was not expecting the reaction he got. He watched in both shock and confusion as Twilight's head sank and her steps faltered, her shoulders drooping and she slowed to an almost stop.

"Twilight?" He asked, concerned, "You didn't forget it did you?"

"Worse." Twilight muttered, wincing, "There's a piece missing. I can't complete it."

"Seriously?" Shining asked with a wince, knowing how much their dam-sire's gift meant to his sister and how hard she had worked on trying to complete it for the last few years around her studies, "You sure you haven't just misplaced it?"

"We turned the entire place upside down." Spike answered for her, feeling almost as depressed as the unicorn he was riding. "We couldn't find it anywhere."

"I'm sure you'll find it while you're not looking for it." Shining sounded hopeful which perked Twilight up a little, though she knew it was a fool's hope. The puzzle was thousands and thousands of years old. It was highly likely that it had been lost long before Treasure Trove had ever gotten his hooves on it.

"Never mind that," The filly was not really in the mood to discuss tests she had quite clearly failed, "Are you okay? How's Cadence? Are you coming too?"

"Cadence is fine," Shining smiled at the thought of his girlfriend, "And sorry Twily, but the Princess wants me here to guard the palace and look after Canterlot while she's away. I'm the only one who can cast a big enough shield spell to protect the entire city after all." Shining nuzzled his sister and gave her an apologetic look. "And we've heard rumblings from the north and if you're right, Nightmare Moon could be on her way back. Summer Sun or not, we can't leave the capital undefended."

"You don't believe me?" Twilight asked, hurt at the 'if you're right.' It was not like she was often wrong when she managed to put the facts together. Normally she only got things wrong if she was given the wrong facts to assemble or did not know the whole image.

"It's…a bit farfetched." Shining admitted hesitantly, knowing that his sister was not going to like his answer, "I mean Nightmare Moon was defeated a thousand years ago. Why would she come back now?"

"Because she swore she would and because it would have taken her some time to break down the seal." Twilight tried to explain, her tone one of a teacher trying to explain something to a particularly dense foal and realising her mistake when Shining frowned at her. "Sorry."

"No you're not, you never are." He harrumphed. "I'm not an idiot, Twily. I'm getting the guards ready in case and I'm sure you heard my conversation with the Princess, but I'm just saying that it's highly unlikely and there are more modern matters for me to deal with that should probably hold the bulk of my attention."

Twilight just huffed. She was no used to her judgement being questioned. Most ponies just assumed she was right nowadays and accepted what she was saying even if they did not like it. Still she could her brother's point. He was in charge of protecting Canterlot after all and if Nightmare Moon was going to strike, she would go after the Princess first and she would be in Ponyville with Twilight, not here in the capital city.

"Cheer up, Twily." Shining barged her gently, just enough to make her step sideways but not enough to dislodge Spike, "If you are right and Nightmare Moon shows up, you'll have the chance to say 'I told you so' after the Princess and whoever her mysterious helper is sends her packing back to the moon."

Twilight smiled slightly at that, though she could not help but ask, "So you were being serious when you asked who the other pony the Princess is relying on was?"

Shining nodded , "Though I think I've figured it out."

"Oh?"

"Oh no, if you haven't realised who she was talking about yet, I'm not going to tell you." Shining looked smug at having realised something before she had, irritating Twilight no end. She did not have time to press however as they arrived in the courtyard to find that the chariot was ready and waiting for her. Two pegasi were hitched up to it and her bags were already packed. "You'll work it out soon enough." Shining told her as he escorted her to the chariot and she carefully packed the Princess's letter in the box with the almost finished puzzle.

"Stay safe?" Twilight asked her brother rubbing up against him and nuzzling him, worried.

"I'll do my best." Shining promised as Spike scrambled down and checked their bags before he clambered into the chariot, "Go have fun in Ponyville and try not to worry too much about what's happening here, you have a test to pass after all."

Twilight cringed slightly as he reminded her of the test that she still had no real idea of the way it was going to be marked or how she was going to even attempt passing.

"You'll do fine." Shining reassured her, "You always do. Don't think about it too hard, just go with what feels natural, they'll love you."

"I hope so." Twilight sighed as she followed the baby dragon and got comfortable, assuming that it was going to be a long trip. She did manage a watery smile for her concerned brother though, "Love you Shiney."

"Love you too, Twily." Shining smiled back at her and then they were gone, taking off quickly and heading up into the skies. Spike was delighted as they shot further and further up and he watched over the sides as Canterlot soon looked like a toy town far below them.

Twilight normally enjoyed flying just as much. As a unicorn pony, flight was beyond her and she only ever got a chance to see Equestria from the skies when she travelled by chariot. When she had been a lot smaller, she had occasionally had rides from her older brother's pegasi friends, but nowadays she did not get airborne as much as she liked.

Craving the skies was odd for a unicorn, she had been told, but it was a problem she had. Whenever she flew she felt like she belonged up there, like being in the skies was as natural as breathing. She did not understand why, but that was how she felt.

Right now, however, she was too busy being confused and sulking about how little she understood her test criteria to really enjoy being up high.

Make friends? How was she expected to make friends in less than twenty four hours? It was late into the evening now, by the time that she got to Ponyville she expected that everypony would be in bed already and the Princess was due in the town before dawn the following day. Twilight did not think she really had time to get to know anyone well enough to consider them friends, yet alone any idea of how to start making any.

And why was it so important now of all times? Surely it would have been better to give her this test after the Summer Sun Celebration was over, especially if Nightmare Moon was returning.

"You want to relax, Twilight." Spike informed her with a yawn, the young dragon beginning to get sleepy as they skirted the edge of the Everfree Forest on their way into town. "Making friends isn't so hard. You'll see and we get to check on the preparations so we'll meet lots of ponies that way. Maybe you'll get lucky."

Twilight grimaced at that. Once she would have believed luck was something that happened to the prepared, but one too many games of Duel Monsters had taught her that luck was a force just as powerful as any magic spell. You could not prepare your deck for a duel so you knew what would come out every time you drew, at least not without cheating, which was something she refused point blank to do. So in the early stages of her training she had swiftly learned that if you poured your heart into the game, then most of the time the luck of the draw would come through for you.

However that did not mean that she liked completely relying on luck outside the duelling field. She would rather rely on her studies and the books that held the knowledge of almost anything she could ask for while preparing for a test.

It did not help that she was not entirely certain that trying to make friends was not a waste of time. Back when she had started at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, she had had a few friends but as they had seen her powers flourish at a rate beyond their capabilities and seen how hard she had driven herself into her studies they had pulled away from her. It did not help her situation either that on many an occasion she had heard the snide remarks of her classmates about her being 'favoured' or 'the teachers going easy on her' because she was Celestia's protégé. They did not seem to realise how much work went into maintaining that position or how hard she tried to make herself useful to the Princess.

She never wanted to disappoint her teacher and be cast aside. She wanted to be able to help her teacher and learn everything she could. To that end she accepted the extra classes, the many various tests and everything else that was thrown at her. She even enjoyed it for studying was something that really seemed to help her unwind when she had had a rough day. That did not mean that she had an easy ride of it at all and she had had to learn to ignore the comments being thrown her way and the ponies it came from, forming an armour of aloofness that only ever fell around Spike, Shining Armour and Princess Celestia.

Maybe this was what she needed, she mused as they passed through the silent and slightly chilly night. A different start in a different place with different ponies who did not know who she was or what she could do. The idea actually appealed to her, though she felt guilty for even considering that a backwater, out of the way town could be better than Canterlot, especially when her brother was working so hard to protect the palace and the capital city that it resided in.

Spike dozed off as they flew and Twilight settled herself so he would not slip out of the back, pulling a blanket out of the nearest bag to put over him and keep him warm. Twilight herself was tired but she could not sleep, not with everything that was running through her mind. It was a good thing in a way, because it meant that she was awake when the dark and quiet town of Ponyville first came into view.

As she had expected, everypony had gone to bed already. The moon was high in the sky as the pegasi warned her that they were going to land just moments before she felt the chariot descending and the citizens of Ponyville had already tucked in for the night beyond one or two bright spots of light.

The chariot touched down by a huge oak tree that was dark within and had a sign hanging outside the door that said 'Golden Oaks Library.' Twilight guessed that this was where she was going to stay and she was actually quite grateful for it. It was rather comforting to be surrounded by books rather than ponies and she was glad the Princess had not expected her to stay in the local inn or hotel or arranged for her to stay with some pony she had never met in the interest of making friends.

She did not need to wake Spike. The jolt of the landing had done that for her and she aided the dragon in unpacking the chariot before retrieving the key from under the doormat and seeing the two pegasi off.

"Come on Spike." Twilight sighed as she let them in the door and looked around for the candles. There were several available by the door and once she had lit the ones around the room, her mood picked up substantially. The entire downstairs, even the space under the stairs, had ceiling to floor bookcases that were packed to bursting with books, most of which it looked like she had not read. Even if she started now it would be weeks before she finished reading them.

Spike's yawn stopped her as she reached for the first book, having decided to start from the door and work clockwise. "Twi?" Spike asked sleepily, "Where's the bedroom?"

"I think it's this way." Twilight says softly, levitating the baby dragon onto her back before lifting the bags up the stairs. If she was honest with herself, she was just as tired as Spike was. It was late, very much so. The moon was just past its highest point, so it was probably midnight or later and she had been up before dawn. Spike had the right idea and she got him settled in before she dumped the bags to one side of the room and slumped onto the bed by the window, not even bothering to pull the curtain before she laid down.

"G'night Twi." Spike mumbled at her before cuddling into his pillow and slipping into sleep.

"Night Spike." Twilight answered back as she stared out of the window. Tomorrow would be a big day. She would have to check on all the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, try and make friends and she kind of hoped that she could find out more about the Elements of Harmony in the library below her. She knew the Castle of the Two Sisters was supposedly nearby in the Everfree Forest which practically backed onto town. The castle was the last place that Princess Celestia had ever used the Elements and if Nightmare Moon was coming back, it was possible that she would need them again.

Hopefully she would have time to do everything before the Princess arrived and she would have to report on her progress with both the festival and making friends. It was not going to be easy but then easy had never been her style. She had always worked her hardest and she would make time if she had any say in the matter.

As she drifted off it was on the happy thought that at least here she had a whole new library to read and she kind of hoped that the Princess would let her stay long enough to get through most of them.


	6. Meet and Greet

The following morning Twilight was awoken by the rising sun shining in her face which would not have been so bad if it had not been accompanied by the sound of Spike talking animatedly to some pony downstairs.

Twilight groaned as she rolled out of bed, not yet ready to face the ponies of this small town. She wanted time to gather her thoughts and prepare for the craziness of the day ahead. It did not look like she was going to allowed to have that.

At least the newcomer was accompanied by the smell of oat muffins. Fresh oat muffins. Twilight was pretty sure she could deal with what sounded like an overexcited filly if they were accompanied by oat muffins. Her stomach certainly agreed with her.

She straightened herself out, using her magic to levitate her brush to she could get the knots out of her mane and tail and settle her coat. Taking the extra couple of moments to get herself looking presentable helped calm her down. She did not want to let Princess Celestia down by looking like she had been dragged through a hedge backwards. She was there as her representative after all. Even if she was supposed to be making friends, she could not forget that she was supposed to be overseeing the preparations for the festival for the Princess.

Once she felt like she was ready, she headed out, pausing at the top of the stairs to see who the pony that Spike was talking to was. The pony below, practically bouncing around the room was a pale pink earth filly with a puffy, curly mane of a darker shade of pink, possibly magenta. She seemed happy and bouncy and Spike seemed to be getting on with her okay. Twilight felt a little guilty that her attention kept slipping to the basket the earth pony had brought with her. It just smelled so good.

"There she is." Spike waved up at her, "Morning Twilight."

"Hi!" The earth pony grinned up at her, "I'm Pinkie Pie and I brought you a surprise."

"Nice to meet you." Twilight tried to remember everything her brother had taught her about introducing yourself to new ponies. It had been a long time she had gone outside of her bubble of companions and class mates so she was a little out of practise. Pinkie didn't seem to mind though. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." The unicorn introduced herself as she descended, just glad that it was only one pony she had to deal with right now, not several, "But Spike probably already told you that."

"He did but I like to get to know every pony so I like to introduce myself." Pinkie replied, bouncing over to her basket, "I live in Sugarcube Corner and I saw you come into town last night but it would have been rude to have invaded that late at night, so I thought I'd come over first thing in the morning with breakfast since you hadn't had the chance to go shopping yet…"

Twilight blinked at her, a little lost for words. Not that she could have gotten a word in edgeways anyway.

"So here you go." Pinkie presented her with one of the oat muffins that Twilight had smelled from upstairs. "There's more in the basket if you want them, I brought milk too." The bright pink pony looked worried as she turned to Spike, "I didn't know there was a dragon though…I'd have found a gem to bring if I had."

"It's okay." Spike smiled reassuringly back as Twilight tucked into her muffin and let out a sound of appreciation, "I mostly eat what Twilight eats, gems are a snack, not a necessity." He took a bite of an oat muffin, "Ooh that's good."

"I can introduce you to Rarity." Pinkie beamed at him, pleased that her baked goods were going down well. "She knows where to get all the best gems and she's the one decorating for the celebration tomorrow."

Twilight blinked at her, realising that knowing the bright pink pony could be an asset. She would be much less likely to get lost while looking for everypony she was supposed to be talking too if she had a guide, "Really? Do you know the ponies of Sweet Apple Acres too? I'm here to check on the preparations and..."

"I know every pony in Ponyville." Pinkie nodded, "And I plan the best parties so I've been helping out with everything."

That was fantastic news. The filly, whose cutie mark on closer inspection was a trio of balloons, would know everything Twilight needed to know about the ponies she was going to meet. Not only that but she had helped with everything so she already knew what the celebrations was going to be like.

"I don't suppose you'd like to help me?" Twilight asked hopefully, "I don't know Ponyville very well, but..."

"Sure!" Pinkie bounced across the room happily, reminding Twilight of a foal just informed that they could eat the entire cake by themselves. "We could start at Sweet Apple Acres and..." Twilight's stomach rumbled again and the earth pony filly laughed, "Have some more, I made them for you."

"Thank you." Twilight let the earth pony filly babble away happily to Spike as she helped herself to a second muffin. They really were good and she was lucky to have run into someone like Pinkie, even if she was a little loud for Twilight's tastes. As she ate the pink filly gave her a rough outline of what as in the works for the festival tomorrow morning.

It sounded pretty much like everything was on track, but Twilight was not just going to take her word for it. She knew she was being a perfectionist but relying on Pinkie Pie's sense of 'nearly ready' felt like cheating. She was supposed to be overseeing the preparations, not relying on someone to do it for her.

"I have a list." Twilight told her companions before she licked her lips clean of crumbs, "Of places to visit and ponies I need to speak to. Sweet Apple Acres is first on the list, it apparently belongs to the Apple family."

"Yeap, you'll want to speak to Applejack, she's in charge." Pinkie nodded rapidly. "She's got a lot of her family over at the moment to help. They're making lots and lots of food and it's all so good. Applejack sometimes comes over and helps me in Sugarcube Corner when I'm making things with her apples and…"

Pinkie was off again and Twilight knew she should not tune her out like she was, but as she prepared to leave, she could not help it. The bright pink filly was a lot like a couple of her classmates, if you aimed her in a direction she would quite happily start babbling on that subject and end up several pages away on a completely different topic.

For some reason it did not bother Twilight as much here as it had in the classroom, possibly because here it did not matter as much. They were not supposed to be learning anything and she found that with the right question here or there, she could quite easily redirect Pinkie onto the topic of conversation she wanted.

Then Pinkie saw Spike strap his deck belt on and she let out a delighted gasp and bounced over, pulling her own deck out of Celestia only knew where and letting the baby dragon see it as she babbled about the local Duellists. Spike handed his over in exchange, distracting Pinkie from the fact Twilight was using her magic to buckle her own deck pouch on to her front left leg.

She was still not entirely comfortable wearing it like she used to. The poor cards had once been dragged around everywhere with her, they had even been put under her pillow at night, but after White Lightning's accident she had barely touched them. Playing him again, for the first time since that day, had reminded her of her love of the game, but it had not entirely fixed the problem. Still she remembered her brother's words. Duel Monsters was obviously popular here and could be the ice breaker she needed to pass the Princess's test, so on went the deck holster.

"You play too, Twilight?" Pinkie asked, putting her deck away as the unicorn came over to them and passed the list to Spike who carefully holstered his deck and took it, along with the quill she offered him.

"Yes and no…" Twilight tried not to wince, "I gave up playing for a while so I'm a little rusty and my deck needs some upgrades."

"Don't worry, there's plenty of ponies to practise on in Ponyville. Almost everypony our age duels." Pinkie thought she was reassuring Twilight, but she actually made the unicorn more nervous. Just because she was good against her classmates in Canterlot, it did not mean that she would be able to win here like she could there.

"We'll see what time there is." Twilight tried to deflect her guide as she headed for the door, "There's a lot to do before I have time to duel."

"Oh but we have to pass the town's main rune grids on our way to Sweet Apple Acres," Pinkie's mane and tail seemed to lose a little of its bounciness, startling Twilight a little, "Are you sure you don't have time for one little duel?"

"I have a job to do." Twilight was firm, "Princess Celestia sent me to oversee the preparations and..."

"Oooh..." Pinkie perked up again, excitement obvious, "You know the Princess?" She asked, bounding around Twilight in a circle, "What's she like? Does she hold good parties?"

Twilight could not help the amused smile that emerged at the last question even she tried to prevent herself becoming dizzy at Pinkie's antics. She answered Pinkie's questions as best as she could as they trotted along, passing the DuelRune grids in question as they went.

Thankfully, at least for Twilight, they were already in use. Several ponies of various ages were duelling against each other, using varied decks of cards with different themes and strategies. There were not many duplicates on the duelling fields in front of her and Twilight found herself pausing to watch as a young orange pegasus filly with a short windswept, magenta mane and messy tail and no cutie mark, activated a trap card that saved her from the fangs of the Silver Fang owned by the silver unicorn filly, whose cutie mark was a silver spoon, who was her opponent.

"Twilight." Spike chuckled, poking his friend in the side, causing her to side step in her surprise, "Work, remember?"

"Right, right." Twilight nodded, mentally berating herself for getting distracted as she caught up to Pinkie who seemed far too amused.

"You sure you don't want to stop and duel?" The earth pony asked with a bright and amused grin.

"Later." She told herself as much as she told Pinkie, trying to ignore the little voice in the back of her head grumbling under his breath about how 'later never came.' "Is it much further to the farm?"

"Nope." Pinkie bounded down the road, "It's just this way. See?" She asked, gesturing with a hoof. Twilight looked in the direction she was pointing and paused as she took in the amount of apple trees that she could see and the logo on the sign over the entrance. When she had first gotten the list, she had just assumed that Sweet Apple Acres would be some small, locally selling farm that was maybe a couple of acres at most. It had not occurred to her that the Sweet Apple Acres she was visiting would be the same orchard as the famous farm that produced zap apple jam every year and whose cider was not only to die for, but was only released once a year and sold for ridiculous prices. She had only ever tasted it because her mother had bought some to celebrate Shining Armour's promotion to Captain of the Palace Guard.

Suddenly the confidence that Pinkie had in the farm's produce made a lot more sense.

As she entered the orchards she tried to see if she could see any of the really rare zap apple trees that, supposedly, only grew on the Apple family farm but all she could see were common varieties, all of which were heavily laden with ripening fruit. The trees with apples that were already suitable for consumption had quite clearly already been picked clean.

Twilight knew what they had been used for too. She could smell the delicious scents of apple based products before she saw the production line of ponies making tarts and pies and fritters and Celestia only knew what else. Pinkie seemed to know a lot of the ponies there as she bounced over to the tables to see how things were going.

Twilight would have followed her except an orange filly with a plaited mane and tail in a pale yellow, green eyes, a cowpony hat and three rosy red apples for a cutie mark, had planted herself in her path. "Hi, I dun think I've see yer in these parts before, if you're here to buy I'm afraid I don' have much in stock right now…"

"No, no," Twilight smiled at her politely, if a little nervously as she offered her hoof, "My name's Twilight Sparkle, I've been sent to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Well howdy-doo, Miss Twilight." The filly grinned, shaking the offered appendage so fast that Twilight took a moment to realise when she had stopped. "I'm Applejack, it's a pleasure makin' your acquaintance."

"Nice to meet you too." Twilight tried, "I see you're really busy and I don't want to impose so I'll…"

"It's no problem a' all." Applejack chuckled, "You want t' sample some of the stuff for tomorrow?"

"Uhh sure? I mean I just ate but…" Twilight did not get to finish her sentence as Applejack rang a triangle and suddenly they were swarmed by the entire herd of earth ponies who had been helping get the food ready. After an introduction to everypony there, all of whose names were related to apples in some way, shape or form, which Twilight supposed was a good way of showing your family ties, the purple unicorn, her dragonic friend and their slightly crazy bright pink guide found themselves sat at a table stacked high with a sample of every type of apple related produce she had smelled on her way up to the farm.

"I don't know if I can eat all of this…" Twilight eyed the pile nervously, kind of hoping that she was not expected to.

"I can." Spike looked upon it, just as eager as Twilight was apprehensive and no pony could tell what Pinkie was thinking and she had already started eating. Twilight tried things here and there, but let her companions do most of the eating. Even with doing it that way, she ended up eating far more than she had intended to and felt rather like an overfull barrel which was going to burst as she confirmed that everything was, indeed, in order and headed back to the main body of Ponyville.

Pinkie, she was almost gratified to see, looked as weighed down as Twilight felt, and while the earth filly was too full to bounce along the road as she had been earlier, that did not stop her from chattering away with Spike about how good it had all been. Twilight's attention was not really on the conversation. Instead she was trying to remember the name of the pegasus pony in charge of maintaining the weather for the duration of the ceremony because they were doing a lousy job of keeping the clouds at bay.

When she asked Pinkie, however, the earth filly's answer was "Oh that's easy, her name is…never mind, there she is."

It was only through sheer dumb luck that Twilight narrowly managed to avoid the rainbow coloured blur that nearly collided with her when she looked in the direction that Pinkie was pointing. As it was she felt the breeze as a cold burst of air and watched with wide eyes as the rainbow blur crashed into a mud puddle, giggling like mad as they sat upright and looked around with pinkish purple eyes.

"That's Rainbow Dash." Pinkie Pie informed Twilight as the mud covered pegasus shook herself off, revealing a filly with a pale, almost sky blue coat. The rainbow colours in the blur were quite clearly from the pony's rather windswept mane and tail. Her style kind of reminded Twilight of the orange pegasus filly she had seen duelling earlier in the day.

"You called?" Dash asked, trotting over.

"Are you the pony in charge of keeping the sky clear for tomorrow?" Twilight frowned at her, disapproving of anyone shirking their duties. "Because there's still plenty of clouds and…"

"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow Dash, somehow, swam backwards in the skies with her fore hooves tucked behind her head, confusing Twilight no end as she had never worked out how the pegasi race as a whole could do that. "I'll have the sky clear but I've been busy practising."

"Practising?" Twilight asked, still looking unamused but forgiving her slightly if she had been busy working on something else rather than just loafing off, "For what?"

"The Wonderbolts." Dash's reply made it sound as if that should have been obvious, "I'm going to show them my moves when they come to Ponyville tomorrow."

"You won't be able to show them anything if the sky isn't clear." Twilight pointed out, coming up with an idea and trying not to smirk, "And they're the best flyers in Equestria, I bet a pegasus that couldn't keep the sky clear for an entire day wouldn't even get a second look."

"I could clear the skies in ten. seconds. flat." Dash snorted, ill amused by the threat to her dream.

' _Hook, line and sinker.'_ Twilight thought with a smug grin, "Prove it."

She did. Twilight was left rather in awe as the pale blue filly cleared the skies of Ponyville of every cloud in them in about nine seconds in some incredible feats of acrobatics and fancy flying. Suddenly Dash's dream of flying with the Wonderbolts did not seem as farfetched as Twilight had thought it had.

"You should see the look on your face!" Dash crowed, giggling just as hard as Pinkie Pie who was used to ponies under estimating Rainbow like Twilight had, "I hope you stick around Twilight Sparkle, you're a laugh." With that Dash shot off to keep practising.

"She's amazing." Spike sounded in awe as he watched her go.

Twilight could not bring herself to disagree. Rainbow Dash's speed could have been explained away as her 'special talent' as her rainbow coloured lightning bolt cutie mark showed, but the agility and skill spoke of a pony who had worked themselves every day for a long time to get as good as she had. It was something that Twilight could understand.

"Rainbow Dash was practising before she moved to Ponyville and that was ages ago." Pinkie shared with them in an oddly conspiratorially whisper. Twilight blinked at her, trying to work out the reason for the tone and beginning to wonder if the earth pony was a little out there. Twilight's confused silence encouraged Pinkie to keep talking, giving the unicorn an insight into Rainbow's prankster but loyal nature and the fact her deck was, apparently, full of griffins.

Not that Twilight wanted to admit to herself that she wanted to know about the strengths and weaknesses of the Duellists in the area. She was still trying to kid herself that she was not interested in playing against anyone and that she did not want to take a break to see how good some of the locals were.

Helpfully for her resolve, the DuelRune grids were still busy when they passed again on their way to the town hall where Princess Celestia was going to address the masses just before dawn and there was a queue building up.

"Aren't there any more girds in town?" Spike asked as he watched a few plain card battles go on, on the nearby tables.

"Only a couple." Pinkie did not seem bothered by the queues, suggesting that it was a regular occurrence, "We don't get many merchants through here with DuelTech, so the town tends to band together and get a lot of stuff at once from the nearest city. We could really use a store around here for it but…" She shrugged. "Guess the right pony hasn't moved into town yet."

And probably would not for a while, Twilight frowned thoughtfully. It was a shame, with no competitors in the town, whichever pony came out here would make a killing. She supposed that the fees for getting the goods would be quite high though, which was probably what stopped any pony in town that was interested from setting up shop.

There was not much Twilight could do about it. She was not interested in running a store. Not only that but as Celestia's private student she had her duties to her studies and that was what she had to focus on. Still that was not to mean that she did not feel sorry for the citizens of Ponyville. It was a lot easier to get things in Canterlot after all, where there were shops for _everything_.

As they stepped into the town hall, it was clear someone had been busy. It was festooned with colourful banners and streamers with flowers in most corners. Twilight expected to have to prevent Spike from eying up the gemstones that were being used as accents in all the right places so that they caught the light. Twilight was willing to bet they would send cascades of light across the room at the right time of day.

The pony responsible for the gorgeous decorations was a white unicorn with a well groomed, curly purple mane and tail and three diamonds as her cutie mark. She was the centre of Spike's focus instead of the gemstones in the decorations.

"She's gorgeous." Spike breathed dreamily, causing Twilight to roll her eyes at the young dragon and Pinkie to giggle.

"The decorations are pretty incredible." Twilight told the dragonet, trying to get his mind back on track before they stepped forward, "Excuse me, are you 'Rarity'?" Twilight asked, double checking the name on her list.

"Why yes I am darling, who..." The white unicorn spoke as she turned to look at them and let out a shocked gasp, "Pinkie Pie, you're tracking mud right across the floor!"

It was a bit of an odd response but it made Twilight pause and look at herself, only to wince when she realised that Rainbow Dash had shaken off most of the mud onto her and Pinkie Pie.

"Sorry Rarity." Pinkie looked properly contrite for a few moments before grinning, "I brought a new friend to see you though."

"I can see." Rarity looked Twilight up and down curiously, "Though she's just as muddy as you are, what have you two been doing?"

"We had a bit of a collision with Rainbow Dash." Twilight sighed, wishing she had thought to check her flank after Dash's mud bath, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to meet you."

"You poor dear. Rainbow Dash is good at her job but when it comes to grooming she's a nightmare." Rarity sighed, "Come on, you can get cleaned up at my place."

"I don't want to be a bother..." Twilight tried, not wanting to disturb her when she was working.

"It's no bother at all dear." Rarity shook her head and herded the trio back out of the door, "I simply can't leave you like that, the mud will dry and then you'll be stuck and that's simply not good enough."

"I suppose..." Now she was aware that she was dirty, Twilight really wanted to wash, "Do you mind if I ask you about how the preparations are going at the same time? You see I've been sent from Canterlot to..."

"Canterlot?" Rarity practically squealed, "I've always wanted to live in Canterlot. The glitz, the glamour, the sophistication...you simply have to tell me all about it! Oooh, I have an idea." Twilight did not get the chance to object before the excited unicorn changed course and herded them to the spa instead.

"I don't really have time..." Twilight tried before they stepped in the door.

"Nonsense darling, you don't have to have the full treatment, but I'm sure you're used to a little pampering now and then and we can spend time getting to know each other." Rarity giggled back at her.

"Supposed to be making friends." Spike whispered in her ear, "Remember?"

"You just want to date her." Twilight grumbled back at him at just as low a tone but did not fight when Rarity dragged her through the door and introduced her to Colgate and Berry, the two spa ponies.

She had to admit that she felt a lot more relaxed after their spa session. Having spent most of it trading information with the unicorn, who had been happy to tell her exactly what she had done and what was left to do in exchange for information about the capital city, she was pretty sure that she had a much better grip on the plans than she had when she had heard them from the slightly crazy Pinkie Pie. It helped that the massage had worked the knots out of some of her stress tightened muscles and her coat had not shimmered like it did now since she had been a foal and gotten herself coated in glitter.

"That was fun!" Pinkie grinned at her as she bounced along to where it had been suggested that they would find the last pony she needed to talk to, a pegasus pony who Pinkie had told her was called Fluttershy.

"Yeah, it was." Twilight admitted. If she was honest with herself, because she had been trying to get on with the ponies she was surrounded by rather than trying to ignore them like she normally would have done, she had had a lot of fun, more so than she had had in a while. She hated to admit it, but she was beginning to understand why the Princess had given her this test.

She loved her books and that was never going to change, but the truth was that she had been getting stale, doing the same thing day in, day out. Life had not been a interesting as it could be for a while and she was pretty sure that it was the change of circumstance and location that had caused it.

In Canterlot she was known as 'Princess Celestia's Student.' Ponies were always a little wary around her if they did not know her and those who did were either her classmates who tended to ignore her when they were not making rude comments or her family, who she loved dearly but were always busy. Then there was Spike, who had to deal with her on a twenty-four hour basis and would never have thought that a spa trip was a good way to gather information, and the Princess who possibly would have done but could never have taken the time out of her busy schedule to take a spa day with her even if she had ever worked up the courage to ask.

Getting out and meeting new ponies had made her broaden her horizons and that was great and she was actually dreading returning to the humdrum of Canterlot where the only thing she had to look forward to were her studies and any time she managed to steal with her brother or the Princess.

That did not mean, however, she was not looking forward to going back the Golden Oaks Library at the end of the day and curling up with a good book, probably one about the Elements of Harmony in preparation for tomorrow. Just in case, of course. She did not think she had done as much walking as she had today for quite a while and between that and the fact it had been very late when she had gotten into Ponyville she was actually thinking about taking a nap between now and the start of the celebrations tomorrow morning.

First of all though, she had a pegasus pony to meet. She was not very hard to find. They heard Fluttershy's birds practising before they saw them and they just followed the sound until they came to a meadow where a pale yellow pegasus filly whose mane and tail were both straight and pale pink, was hovering in the air before a tree laden with birds and conducting the harmony.

Twilight hesitated to interrupt her practising. The birds were in fine voice and there was only one bird who was consistently out of tune, a woodpecker who seemed determined to throw off the rhythm, though the purple unicorn filly could not tell if it was deliberate or not, having never dealt with birds before.

She went to step into the meadow, only for Pinkie to get in her way. "Wait!"

"What?" Twilight was confused.

"You have to approach Fluttershy slowly. She spooks." Pinkie informed her slowly but patiently, partly amusing Twilight since this was the first time all day the pink earth pony had done anything slowly and partly giving Twilight of some idea of why it annoyed her brother when she did the same thing.

"Fluttershy...got it." Twilight realised, stepping out quietly and introducing herself in a pause in the music by coughing politely rather than going up to the pegasus and saying 'hi' as she had been planning to do.

The filly still jumped, but she landed gracefully at least which in Twilight's mind was a bonus. She turned around to look at Twilight with huge, wide eyes and a nervous shuffle of her hooves, half hiding behind her mane.

"Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle." Celestia's student introduced herself, "I'm overseeing the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Pinkie," She gestured behind her to the normally bouncy earth pony who was approaching with care, not wanting to spook the yellow filly anymore than she already was, "Told me that you're Fluttershy and you're in charge of the music?"

Fluttershy glanced at Pinkie, a slight look of relief on her features when she realised she would not have to introduce herself to the stranger in their midst, then nodded shyly.

"Well they sound fantastic." Twilight informed her with a bright smile, "And I can't wait for tomorrow. I won't take up any more of your time, but I'll tick you off of my list as ready, is that okay?" When Fluttershy nodded, Spike put a big tick next to her name.

Then Fluttershy actually spotted Spike and all the nervousness vanished as she squealed, "A baby dragon!" and shot forward, swooping over Twilight and landing, in a somersault that Rainbow Dash would have been proud of, next to Spike. "Aren't you adorable!?"

"Why thank you." Spike preened, making his friend groan as Fluttershy's they trudged back to the town, Fluttershy in tow. Not that she thought it was a bad thing that the pale yellow pegasus was interested in the purple dragon riding her back, but Spike gradually got more animated the longer he and the filly, whose cutie mark was three pink butterflies, talked, making for an uncomfortable and vaguely painful load.


	7. Princess Celestia's Letter

It was a relief when they got back to the tree that the library rested within and she could apologise to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, reassuring the latter that she had had a good day and she just needed a brief rest to write up her report and send it before the celebration.

"But Twilight..." She could see Spike was not happy with her as they stepped into the library and shut the door behind them, leaving them in pitch darkness. However Twilight had just about had enough of other ponies and really did need time with her books, away from the crowds before she faced them again.

"I've been making friends all day Spike." Twilight was firm, "I really just want to read the letter the Princess gave me and settle down to look into the Elements of Harmony for a couple of hours. I'm not a party pony and that's what will be going on all..." She flicked the light switch, waking up the glowworms in the light in the ceiling.

"Surprise!" Twilight jumped out of her skin at the cacophony that greeted her the moment she could see and she turned to look at the crowd with dread. Every pony was there and it really was, practically every pony. Some of whom she had met during the day, including all five of the organisers, suggesting that they had finished their work at least, most of whom she had not.

"Bet you're surprised huh?" Pinkie asked, bounding over, "Are you surprised?"

"I'm surprised alright," Twilight admitted a little unhappily, not used to her private space being invaded like this, "When did you have time to organise this?"

"That's a secret." Pinkie giggled at her, pleased that Twilight had not guessed over the course of the day. Pinkie had been throwing the party together with help from various citizens of Ponyville ever since she had seen the unicorn arrive in town and was actually glad that Twilight had not noticed that she had slipped away from the spa to put the finishing touches on it. "But you have to have a housewarming party, so here it is."

Twilight did not have the heart to remind her that she was not staying in Ponyville after the Summer Sun Celebration. Instead she wandered over to the drinks table which was laden with apple juice from Sweet Apple Acres, along with several other beverages and cupcakes. Using her magic she poured herself a drink from the nearest available bottle and downed it in one swift movement only to feel her mouth start painfully burning up and tears start pouring down her cheeks, making a fool of herself as she whinnied and backed up from the table with her tongue hanging out, not thinking for a moment to drink something else.

Finally it occurred to her and she guzzled down a bottle of apple juice, cooling her mouth down enough for her to think clearly. She was just starting a second drink when she saw it, the bottle she had drunk from was for hot sauce, not a beverage. Some pony had left the bottle on the table and watching Pinkie Pie smiling and the other ponies smirking or laughing at her, she was pretty sure she knew who it was who had set her up. Pinkie Pie, who had been so nice to her today, who had helped her out and even, though she had not wanted it, gone out of her way to put together a party, had set her up to look like a fool in front of all the ponies in Ponyville.

Twilight could not deal with it. She fled to her bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her, only not barricading it behind her so Spike could get in.

After everything she had done to try and fit in, to try and make friends with the local ponies, the one she had dared let in the most had been the one to prank her and make her look like an idiot and it hurt.

Worse, if she had not made friends, if she had been used all day to set up some elaborate prank, then she had failed the Princess's test and she had no idea what would happen in the morning. Dismissal from Celestia's service was the most terrifying thing Twilight could think of and if she failed a test, any test, it was a possibility. Now, thanks to Pinkie, it could happen. The Princess could consider her unworthy of training and dismiss her, she could even send her back to Magic Kindergarten if she considered the failure bad enough…

The purple unicorn stumbled over to her bag, not really thinking clearly and used her magic to try and yank a book out of it, sending the contents tumbling everywhere including a certain golden box. It skidded across the ground, its lid going one way while the nearly finished artefact within went the other, shedding pieces as it went and the letter she had been storing with it slid in yet another.

"No, no, no!" Twilight moaned collecting up the scattered pieces, the rest of the artefact and the letter and went and slumped on her bed, laying everything out carefully.

It did not look too bad. The pieces were not damaged and they slipped back into place with a little careful work and a lot of luck considering how badly her control on her magic was faltering after the nasty surprise just as badly as her emotional control.

When it was done she relaxed a little and stared at the letter from Celestia. She was not sure she wanted to read it. Not when it was clear that even if she understood the meaning of this test, which she thought she did, she was still going to fail it. Still it _was_ from the Princess and she could not bring herself to ignore her instructions. The alicorn Princess of the Sun had told her to read the letter this evening, not doing so could only make the situation worse.

"Guess I don't have a choice." Twilight sighed as she cut the seal and let the scroll unfurl. She was shocked to see the missing piece of the puzzle fall out of the roll and barely managed to prevent it from bouncing off of the bed in time. She stared at it for a while, holding the piece in front of her to examine properly. It was the same shape as the biggest of the stars on her cutie mark, while the wadjet eye was prominent on it as a raised shape. It was a surprisingly detailed piece and she was glad to have it back again. However she did not understand why it had been wrapped in the Princess's letter.

She put it down gently and picked up the letter, hoping that Celestia would explain within it what had happened that meant she had had it to give to Twilight now.

" _My dearest Twilight Sparkle,"_ The unicorn read out loud, casting a basic 'flicker' spell to light the nearby candle, giving her enough light to see the words properly, _"By now you will probably be needing the piece I contain in this letter and I apologise for withholding it from you for such a long time."_

Which meant that the Princess had to have had it for a while, though Twilight was not sure when she had taken it. The unicorn was not entirely sure how she felt about the fact that the Sun Goddess had effectively stolen a piece from a treasure that her dam-sire had given her, though she was sure that Celestia had had a good reason for it.

" _I have had it since you first showed it to me, back when you first moved into your rooms in the school and I know you will probably be angry with me for not returning it to you sooner."_ Celestia's letter continued, _"However, before you put this letter down and refuse to listen to me any longer, please read through why I thought, at one point, that it would be better for you never to complete the puzzle."_

Twilight grimaced, trying to work out why she felt like that was not the Sun alicorn's decision to make. She was the Ruler of all of Equestria after all. What she said was law. If she had thought it for the best that Twilight did not complete the puzzle, then really the young unicorn should have had no say in that matter. That did not make her feel any better.

" _It all starts in a country known as Equigypt, where your puzzle comes from. A country that ceased to exist long before Equestria was ever thought of."_ Twilight knew this, Treasure Trove had told her all the tales surrounding the puzzle as a kid. She had committed them to memory, hoping that they would help her solve the secrets of the artefact that she had been working on for going on eight years. _"A dark magic destroyed the land thousands of years before even I was born and was sealed away by a powerful alicorn who gave her life to do so."_

That she had not known. Her dam-sire had not told her that part, though it was quite possible that he had not known as nothing she had read on Equigypt had ever informed her of what had happened to ruin the once proud country, only that it had disappeared overnight and become part of Saddle Arabia.

" _My sister, Princess Luna, went to Saddle Arabia in order to work her diplomatic magic and came back with reams and reams of notes on the magic belonging to a vizier she had met while there. I allowed her to explore that magic, hoping that it would distract her from me while I dealt with my ever increasing duties, not noticing that slowly and surely Luna was losing more and more face with the nobles as they looked upon the 'Night Queen' as a necessary evil rather than understanding the true balance of day and night."_

This was more honesty from her tutor on these matters than Twilight had ever experienced and she was not quite sure how to take it. Celestia had obviously needed to get off of her chest and in revealing her theft to Twilight she had obviously felt that now was the time for the truth. About everything. It was probably easier to do it on paper than it would have been to tell her all of this to her face.

" _I did not see Luna's decent from studying the dark magic that she had discovered, to using it, but I was the cause for her final fall into Nightmare Moon, for I pushed her away and when the nobles came to me, asking why we even needed the night, I did not scold them and defend Luna's night as I should have done. Instead I allowed them to turn against her and drive her further into the darkness. It was that darkness that finally controlled her and turned her into the demon sorceress, Nightmare Moon."_

Who was due to return tomorrow during the Summer Sun Celebration if the legends were true.

" _I had no choice but to banish her to the moon for a thousand years for her own protection and for that of the mares and stallions in our care. I lost my last student, Sunset Shimmer, to that same magic after she discovered my sister's notes locked away deep within the castle, but unlike my sister, she banished herself to a place from which she could never return and where I could never reach her. I could not lose you the same way."_

Twilight blinked at those words. She had heard only brief rumours of Sunset Shimmer, who had been Celestia's student before she had. The rumours spoke of an arrogant unicorn who had delved too deep into the darker side of magic and had lost her place at Celestia's side. This was new information about that too. However she had never found the notes of Princess Luna and she did not understand how her puzzle linked to any of this.

" _I know you're probably wondering what this has to do with your puzzle."_ Celestia's letter continued, causing the unicorn to smile slightly at how well the Princess knew her, _"Well, your puzzle is an artefact that was once worn by the same alicorn who sealed the darkness away in the first place and since her seal had quite clearly started to fail, I was worried for your safety. After all, the darkness quite clearly held grudges and I was frightened that either you would be lost to the same power when your curiosity drove you to investigate it's properties, just as my sister had, or you would be attacked as the holder of the artefact belonging to that long lost Princess."_

That made a worrying amount of sense. Twilight had trouble bringing herself to be angry when Celestia had stolen the piece from her out of concern for her wellbeing.

" _My concerns were not alleviated any when a zebra by the name of Zecora, who held two more of the seven golden relics, a Key and a pair of Scale and came to me not long after I took you on as a student and hid the piece away. She told me that the puzzle granted one wish, but it also gave the wielder power over the darkness and granted them the title 'Guardian of Shadows.' Then she warned me of dark days ahead and vanished from my castle. I have had ponies searching ever since but no one has managed to locate her."_

She knew about the wish. Her dam-sire had told her all about it when he had first given her the puzzle, claiming it was the prize for passing the test of completing it. A test she now knew that the Princess had been preventing her from completing. She had not known, however, about the 'Guardian of Shadows' part and she could not help but wonder if Treasure Trove had when he had given it to her. She doubted it. He loved her and she was certain that he would not have willingly put her in any danger, but the part about 'dark days ahead' was worrying and Twilight was sure they probably related to what was due to happen tomorrow.

" _I believed that I could make the choice for you. That if I took away a piece of the puzzle that you would be safe and I could find some other way of understanding the darkness. However, I was wrong. I have spent the last one thousand years trying to find a way to break through the darkness and free someone from them to no avail and now I have run out of time. Tomorrow the demon controlling my sister will be free once more and I had to make a choice. Allow you to complete the puzzle and claim your place as the Guardian of Shadows, as is your right and risk losing you forever but chancing that if I fall, you will be able to bring Luna back to her senses. Or keep this piece from you and send you far from the danger. I was thinking over those choices when you sent me your letter about Nightmare Moon's return."_

Which was why it had taken so long to get her reply, Twilight now understood.

" _It was actually your letter that helped me decide. That and the tale of an old stallion I once met who I believe is related to you, a Treasure Trove. He knew the Shadows better than any pony alive when I met him and we searched together for a while. He was supposedly studying it to protect his family. Now I know he meant protecting you. We turned up dead end after dead end until finally he reminded me that Unity, the power that we discovered the alicorn Princess had used to seal away the darkness, was another name for Harmony and that maybe the answers I sought were not that far away from home. The Elements, however, are no longer mine to control. A single pony, even an alicorn like myself, cannot harness the power evoked by those working together."_

The Elements of Harmony. That was what Celestia was clearly talking about when she mentioned Harmony and Elements. Twilight did not know what she meant by the Equigyptian Princess's Unity, but she understood that her dam-sire had meant the Elements when he had spoken to Celestia.

" _Time grows short and you will be pacing your library or perhaps working on your puzzle, waiting impatiently for my reply, but I ask you to think carefully before you make your choice. Do not rush into what seems right for Equestria, do what seems right for you. If you choose not to complete the puzzle and stay out of whatever happens when my sister returns, I will understand. However, if you do choose to stand and fight, I beg that you find the Elements of Harmony. They allowed me to seal her away and may give you, in your role as Guardian, the chance to free Luna where I cannot._

 _Whatever you choose, I will always be your teacher and support you through any choices you make,_

 _Princess Celestia."_


	8. Complete

Twilight rocked back slightly as she considered what she had read. She knew about as much about the puzzle upon her bed as she did about the Elements of Harmony, which was very little. Both her tutor and her dam-sire apparently knew more and neither of them had shared the information with her for her own safety. Twilight was actually a little offended that the Princess had not trusted her enough to give her the choice sooner. She understood that Celestia was worried about losing her like she had lost her sister and her last student, but it was her life so surely it was her choice.

She did not understand about the 'Guardian of the Shadows' bit though. She did not know what the 'Shadows' were or how she was supposed to guard them. If an alicorn Princess had given her life to seal them away, then they were surely a bad thing and they should be guarded against, not protected. Unless the idea was to protect them against others who would use them to hurt others like Nightmare Moon had wanted to do a thousand years ago, or Sunset Shimmer, who Twilight had had heard had gone a little crazy and hurt a bunch of ponies before she had fled the castle.

If she completed the puzzle, that would be her role. Her duty would be to shield other ponies from the dark magic. She could imagine that it would be a role that would allow her plenty of practise with her magic and could possibly lead into studies in more exotic magicks. It could be interesting. However she did not doubt that it would be dangerous too. The Princess had been writing like she had not expected to succeed in her attempt to defeat Nightmare Moon and save her sister and that worried Twilight. Celestia was much more powerful than she was and she had quite clearly failed the test on friendship that would have allowed her to use the Elements of Harmony, so how was she, as the Guardian of the Shadows, meant to succeed where her tutor had failed?

Of course she had to make that choice first. Did she want that responsibility? Celestia had given her the choice to turn it down and stay safe if she wanted. Twilight had this odd feeling though that trying to stay out of it would not protect her when Nightmare Moon came calling.

Besides the puzzle was a test. A test she had been trying to complete for eight years. If she failed to complete it, she would not only be turning her back on her mentor, but she would willingly fail the test her dam-sire had set her so long ago. Not only that but the wish that was the prize at the end of all her hard work, would never come true.

She was certain that now she knew the risks of being tempted by the darkness, she could keep it at bay and even If she struggled, she had her brother and her mentor who could help her. If they kept an eye on her then they would be able to see the warning signs and stop her from falling. She would not be Sunset Shimmer, who had betrayed the Princess and frightened so many before her departure from the castle. She would not let herself be that pony. If she took on the role as Guardian of the Shadows, she would do her duty properly. No matter how much work it was. If that was the role Celestia trusted her to take, then she wanted to live up to that trust.

She picked up the piece the Princess had returned to her, examining it carefully as she thought over her options. She wanted to believe she had the strength to carry the burden. The Princess seemed to think that she might but Twilight was just as uncertain as her mentor. Plus she did not know what she wanted her wish to be. It was selfish, but she did not just want to wish Nightmare Moon away. Not only would it make her teacher unhappy if her sister vanished for good, but it felt like cheating and she wanted her wish to be something she wanted. It was selfish, she knew, but after eight years of hard work, if her 'prize' was to be placed into a dangerous role, she felt she deserved that one, single wish.

"I…" Twilight hesitated, her mind going over the events of the previous day. She had enjoyed thinking that she had made a few friends and spending time doing something new. If she could have one wish, just one wish, it was that she would like some friends that would not tease her or use her to further their own studies or place in Celestia's court. Someone she could trust to save her rump if things got bad once she had accepted her role and who she could help in return… "I wish…I wish I had friends I could rely on," She spoke out loud as she slowly inserted the piece, "And who could rely on me in turn. Friends who I can trust and share everything with…"

The final piece clicked into place and Twilight let out a startled mix of a gasp and shriek as magic erupted from it, temporarily overwhelming her senses. When she came to, she was on the floor, the completed puzzle on the ground before her and any signs of the magic that had emerged when she had completed completely erased, almost like it had never happened at all, except for the fact she had been on the bed when she had finished the puzzle.

"What in the hay?" Twilight breathed, cautiously levitating the completed artefact alongside her while she returned to her place on the bed, trying to piece together what had happened and coming up blank.

It did not matter really. Nothing had gone wrong, nothing had been harmed and she was perfectly fine. A few missed seconds were not really a big issue and it was possible that the missed seconds her just been her magic and that she supposedly gained as the 'Guardian of the Shadows' intertwining and disrupting her magic's natural flow. There was even a reasonable explanation for the pulse of magic. She had to be able to recognise the magic she was supposed to be using if she was going to be able to control it. At least that's what she tried to convince herself as she examined the completed trinket.

It looked like an upside down pyramid, like the ones she had seen in the pictures of Saddle Arabia, except for the hoop at the top. She was pretty sure she could thread something through it so she could wear it rather than risk it falling apart in her bag if she accidently shoved books on top of it, which was a worryingly likely scenario. Not that she was sure it would come apart easily anyway. Now it was finished it was surprisingly sturdy and she could feel a weak aura of the same magic from earlier surrounding it and interweaving with the pieces, almost as if it was helping hold it together. It was kind of a relief. She did not want to have to reassemble it at the slightest knock after all.

She looked up when the door creaked open. Spike poked his head in, looking concerned despite the lampshade on his head. "Are you alright, Twilight?" He asked, worried for her. "You're missing one heck of a…you finished it?!" His train of thoughts derailed as he spotted the finished puzzle. "You've been working on it forever!"

"Not quite that long." Twilight chuckled, though she was not surprised Spike thought so considering that she had received it before she had hatched Spike's egg. "Can you get me a rope or something to thread it onto?"

"Sure!" The dragonet scurried away and came back with a streamer made of silver ribbon. Twilight smiled at him gratefully as she used her magic to thread the ribbon through the hoop, wrapping it around the loop a couple of times to make sure that it was secure and the fabric would not rip. "Are you coming down to the party now?"

"I…" Twilight did not want to, but her wish could not come true if she avoided everypony. Instead she tied the streamer in a loop and put it on, feeling a little odd as the weight settled on her neck and wondering if she would ever get used to how heavy it felt.

"Please Twilight? It's almost time for the sun to come up anyway." Spike tried reasoning with her, much to the unicorn's amusement. "You wouldn't have to talk to other ponies for long…"

It was not that she did not like talking to other ponies. She just always struggled to find some common ground with them. That was why getting along with Pinkie Pie had been such a pleasant surprise. She had nothing in common with the pink, crazy earth pony. She was loud, she was bouncy and she had no concept of space. Yet she and Pinkie had spent hours in each other's company and chatted away and had generally had fun.

Which was why she did not want to go down. Thinking about it logically, it was quite possible that the hot sauce had not been meant for her. It had just been the closest bottle to her when she had gone to take a drink. The amused smirks and laughter would have been the same towards any pony who had reacted as she had. Even she would have found the situation amusing if it had not been her in that position. She was just over reacting because she was too used to being bullied in school without being able to fight back. As Celestia's student she was 'supposed to rise above it' and not 'react in an undignified manner.'

Running upstairs and hiding like a foal probably counted as the latter, even if it had allowed her to finish her puzzle. Fleeing like that had probably made a worse impression on the citizens of Ponyville then the prank had in the first place.

"Alright Spike." Twilight could not help but sigh as her baby dragon grinned like a loon. "I'll be down in a minute, I promise."

"You'll enjoy it." Spike promised. "Rainbow Dash got a duelling ring going and…"

Spike knew just what to say to make her evening. She had completed the puzzle and that was awesome, even if it had come with a job to do, but if she wanted to get to know the ponies here and still stand a chance of passing her mentor's test, there were not many better ways to understand a pony then learning how they thought from across a duelling field.

"Two minutes." Twilight swore. Spike did not entirely look like he believed her but he nodded, causing the lampshade on his head to nearly tumble off, and headed back downstairs. The unicorn watched him go with a shake of her head and a chuckle before tidying around and checking her deck was up together.

Once she was certain she was about as ready as she was ever going to be, she took a deep breath and stepped out of her bedroom. The party was in full swing below and she could quite easily see the small group of ponies to one side of the room, over by the snack tables, who had their decks laid out on the floor and were playing each other.

Pretty much all the ponies that she had spent time with the day before were there. Even Rarity, much to her surprise was in amongst the crowd gathered around trading cards and duelling one another, though to the purple unicorn's complete lack of surprise she could see that there was a rather pretty looking mat underneath her.

It was to that group that she headed, figuring that she probably had more in common with them then she did with some of the other local ponies. Raindow Dash budged over to make room, smirking at her. "Decided to emerge then?"

"Spike said you were duelling?" Twilight nodded, not bringing up the earlier prank if no one else was.

"Yeah, Pinkie set it up." Rainbow nodded, grinning, "She might be prone to pranks but she knows how to get everypony enjoying themselves." Twilight winced slightly at the 'pranks' comment causing Dash to chuckle at her, "You realise there's not a pony in Ponyville who hasn't been caught by Pinkie once or twice, right? Well, except Fluttershy, no one pranks Fluttershy."

That kind of made Twilight feel better. Pinkie had not singled her out, she had been including her in the general pranking. It was an odd way to think about it, but it did help her mood considerably even as she snuck peeks at the shelves, trying to see if she could spot anything on the Elements of Harmony upon them.

It was hard to see anything around the horde of ponies that were gathered in her library and for a few moments Twilight resented it. Libraries were supposed to be _quiet_ and this was her space. None of those present besides herself and Spike had permission to be in her home, but they had invaded anyway. She had wanted a nice, quiet night to get some research done before Nightmare Moon showed up. That plan had gone spectacularly out of the window.

Then she did not have time to resent it as Rainbow set her up to duel against a stallion she had never met before and by the time that they were all due to leave, Twilight had not only gained a small following of impressed Duellists but had gotten to know them all a little better. Since this was a step towards the Elements of Harmony working with her, or even possibly understanding the 'Unity' mentioned in Celestia's letter, it did not feel like she had completely wasted the night, but she still not in the position she had wanted to be in when she was herded from the library and along to the town hall.


	9. Darkness Decends

Something was off as she entered the building, not that she was entirely sure what it was. She could just feel an odd taint creeping through the building. To her magically honed senses it felt like a strange mist that was slowly oozing between their hooves and spreading out into the streets of Ponyville through the open double doors. She did not know what it was, or why it made her feel so uneasy but as she moved towards the front of the crowd she had a horrible feeling that the alicorn on the balcony was not going to be her tutor, Celestia, but her tainted sister.

The mayor stepped forward to give a speech but Twilight was not listening. She was too busy paying attention to the fact the darkness was building around the balcony where the Princess was due to appear. Something or somepony was coming and the darkness knew it. Twilight just did not know how she was supposed to deal with that fact.

If she was the 'Guardian of the Shadows' now, then this was her first test in her new role. She would have to stop Nightmare Moon here, before she could do any damage. She just was not sure how.

"And now," The mayor announced after thanking everypony for their hard work, "I welcome to Ponyville, Princess Celestia!"

Fluttershy's bird chorus started up and Twilight held her breath, praying that she was wrong. That the tales of darkness and shadows in Celestia's letter had made her just image the mist at her hooves and the creeping tendrils of power she could feel surrounding the balcony and reaching behind the curtains.

When they opened, Princess Celestia was missing, causing panic to start rising in the assemblage, including Twilight, who sidestepped, having feared this would happen. Fluttershy's birds trailed off mid-chorus as Rarity let out a frightened cry of, "She's gone!"

A dark and slightly deranged cackle started as a purple and black fog swirled around in a tornado of power. Power that was far too reminiscent of the pulse of magic that had erupted from the puzzle when she had completed it for Twilight's liking, but like it had been multiplied by a thousand.

"Oh horsefeathers…" Twilight whispered to herself as she watched it explode out, coating the walls and ceiling in the same weird maelstrom of an odd mixture of purples, blacks and blues. With the tornado gone, a midnight blue alicorn whose mane and tail were made up from the night sky and flowed like water stood tall and proud where Princess Celestia should have stood. Her silver armour glinted ominously in the strange light that was cast by the power and she looked around with a toothy smirk at the terrified crowd below.

"Bow before your Princess." Nightmare Moon demanded, "For I have returned and the night will last forever!"

Twilight could feel the power coating the room like a lead weight baring down on her and the temperature had dropped several degrees, leaving most of those in the room with her shivering, though it was hard to tell if it was because of the cold or the fear. It was hard to think through the oppressive atmosphere and Twilight struggled to react to the possessed alicorn's ravings.

"Where's the Princess!? The real one!" Rainbow Dash demanded, trying to fly up to the balcony only for Applejack to catch her tail between her teeth and hold her back.

"What's the matter?" Nightmare Moon demanded with a snarl, glaring at the Pegasus pony, "Am I not royal enough for you? Does the crown of the Night Goddess no longer matter after a thousand years? What of the crown I wore five thousand years ago?! Do you know who I am?!"

"I do!" Twilight bellowed, saving Pinkie Pie from attracting the attention of the dark creature on the balcony by bellowing over her, "I know who you are! You're Nightmare Moon!"

Several ponies whinnied in terror as the alicorn turned an amused smirk on her, only to freeze, her eyes widening as she took in the unicorn who had called out. "You." She hissed, anger clear on her face, "You will not stop me this time. I will kill you again! And this time you won't come back!"

Twilight did not understand what she meant, but she did understand what the wave of purple the alicorn sent at her meant and she threw up a hasty shield spell that protected not only herself but anypony close enough to her to be hit. The powerful attack washed down the sides of her shield and joined the darkness coating the floor around her.

"Who are you this time, Princess?" Nightmare Moon demanded, sarcastically emphasising the title as she glowered down at her, her wings flaring up as she snarled out, "What name should I put on your headstone?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, I am Celestia's Student." Twilight replied as her shield flickered out of existence, its magic spent, "And the Guardian of Shadows. I won't let you win. I can't!"

"The last time you were an alicorn and even then, alone, you could not defeat me, you stand no chance now, little Twilight." Nightmare Moon hissed, drawing up her magic for another strike. "You will die here and now, before you can seal me again! My Shadows will destroy you!"

Twilight's world slowed down as the demonically possessed alicorn unleashed a wave of Shadows that would kill everypony present. She could not stop it. She knew she could not stop it. She was not strong enough, but she tried. She dragged up every ounce of magic that she possessed and then drew more from the puzzle, building it into a shield that would cover the ponies in the hall.

The Shadows hit it with the force of a hurricane and Twilight shuddered, barely able to maintain her protective barrier against the sheer weight and potency of the dark power she was facing. Her hooves slid backwards as the barrier shuddered and slowly retreated back from the force pressing against it. "I…I'm s…sorry…" She bit out to the ponies surrounding her as her forelegs buckled for a moment and she only just caught herself in time, "I…I can't…"

"Die!" Nightmare Moon crowed, knowing she had won as she drove more of her power into the blast.

The shield buckled as Twilight did. The unicorn started to collapse as her shield started folding in on itself, unable to take the force of the attack.

Then the puzzle glowed brightly, surrounding Twilight in a golden glow as the same golden glow bolstered the shield and helped it hold. The ponies of Ponyville watched in shock as the glow took the shape of an alicorn and then died down, leaving a tall, proud, purple Princess in the place of the unicorn, her cutie mark the same as before, her mane and tail the same combination of three purples but longer and wilder, her wings badly torn and damaged and quite clearly unable to sustain flight, but sweeping gracefully along her back and draping over her like a noble's cloak. She glared up at Nightmare Moon with narrowed ruby red eyes. "I don't think so!" She snapped back, "You will not hurt anyone here!"

Nightmare Moon watched in furious shock as the other alicorn's magic soaked up her blast and stood firm. She was not prepared for this battle. Not tired as she was from fighting the Sun Goddess. She had expected to sweep into the peaceful, quiet city and take over, not wage war with another Goddess in the middle of her victory speech.

She had the advantage though. The Princess before her was ground bound. The wounds that had occurred during the battle so very, very long ago seemed to have latched onto her soul and been carried over to the modern day.

Which meant that she, in this mortal frame she had stolen from the Goddess of the Night, could fly away and recover, while the Princess before her would have to walk to find her and burn up more energy, not really getting the chance to pull herself together before they fought again.

"If you think you can stop me," Nightmare Moon crowed, "Come and find me. I will be at the heart of my old Kingdom!" With that she flapped her wings and lifted off, flying out of the window and into the night. Rainbow Dash broke free of Applejack's grip and tried to fly after her, but Twilight did not get to see the result as her shield failed when the Shadows fled alongside the possessed Goddess and she collapsed, her wings vanishing and her form shrinking, returning to the unicorn she had originally been as her world went black.


	10. Research

The moment she hit the floor, the ponies surrounding her erupted in panic. Applejack, seeing the danger from their hooves, barged her way through the crowd with her brother's help to the side of the unconscious unicorn who had protected them all.

"Let me dear." Rarity, who looked paler than usual, said as she levitated Twilight onto Big Mac's back as Spike clambered onto Applejack's. "We really should get her somewhere safe."

"The library's close." Spike spoke up for the first time since Nightmare Moon had appeared, biting his lower lip as he watched his unconscious pseudo-mother. "All our stuff is there."

"Then tha' where we'll go. Can yer carrier 'er that far?" Applejack asked, turning to her brother who nodded.

"E'yup." Big Mac, a huge red earth pony stallion with a short orange mane and tail and a single green apple for a cutie mark, was not too concerned about the weight on his back considering how much he hauled around on a daily basis for the farm.

"But how're we gonna get through the crowd?" Rarity asked, deciding to come with them since it was clear she was no longer needed here and they would need her help to lift the other unicorn back down again.

"Everypony quiet!" The mayor bellowed over the noise of the panicked chatter and stomping hooves, "Please, settle down!" When that did not work she gestured to the only ponies who were not panicking, which, surprisingly to them all included Fluttershy, who had been settling her birds and trying not to think about what had happened too hard. "Take the back entrance and when she wakes up, tell her thank you and I'd like to speak with her."

"We will." Applejack tipped her hat to the mayor, "Thanks to yer too."

The small group of ponies bolted out of the hall and down towards the tree that the library rested in. Halfway there Rainbow Dash rejoined them, looking irritated.

"She got away." The pale blue pegasus complained as she flew above them, keeping up with the group easily. "She turned into a weird light and vanished into the Everfree Forest."

"The Everfree Forest?" Rarity yelped. It was not only her features that fear crossed. The Everfree was dangerous. No pony could live there. There were too many dangerous beasts that roamed the dark and creepy forest. If Nightmare Moon had gone there, there was a good chance that they would never be able to find her amongst the twisting branches and boggy paths. That, if they thought about it, was probably what the dark sorceress had been going for when she had challenged Twilight to follow her.

"Never min' that now." Applejack said as they reached the library and Spike scrambled to open the door for them. "We can' do nothing until Princess Twilight wakes up." Big Mac preceded his sister into the huge hollow tree and Spike swiftly made up a bed of pillows for the unicorn on his back as the others followed him in.

"She didn't tell us she was a Princess." Rainbow huffed, "And where'd her wings go?"

"Twilight's not a Princess." Spike yawned, having trouble keeping up with everything, having not slept since before dawn the previous day, though he was not sure if it could be counted as another 'day' when the sun had yet to rise. "And I've never seen her do that before."

"Her wings were damaged." Fluttershy spoke, her voice little more than a whisper.

"With 'er wings as messed up as they were, I don't think it woulda mattered if she did 'ave them out normally, Rainbow." Applejack spoke over the end of Fluttershy's sentence, having not heard the shy and quiet yellow pegasus.

"Applejack's right, it might be a choice to hide them, darling." Rarity spoke up, "I mean if I had wings and they were that badly damaged, I'd probably want to hide them too."

"No, no!" Spike protested, frustration clear, "You're not listening to me. Twilight's a unicorn, not an alicorn! I don't know how she did that but she's not normally an Alicorn! She must have learned a spell or something without telling me." Spike sounded kind of hurt at that, causing the ponies to wince and glance at each other.

"Perhaps she didn't have time, darling." Rarity offered as she levitated Twilight down onto the pillow bed. "She was rather busy yesterday."

"But we share..." Spike paused, considering the golden trinket hanging from the ribbon around Twilight's neck. Twilight had, as far as he was aware, never studied to become an Alicorn like her teacher and he had helped her with every spell she had learned in the last couple of years. Once he had proved to the unicorn that he could help, she had been more than willing to let him assist wherever possible and with something as complicated as this, he was sure that his friend would have needed his help multiple times.

However he had heard the tales that Treasure Trove had woven about the powers of the 'Millennium Puzzle,' the same puzzle that Twilight was wearing as a necklace. There had been horror stories and ghost stories and even the tale of an Alicorn Princess haunting anyone who held it but there was one thing that every story had in common.

The Millennium Puzzle was a powerful, magical artefact that granted its holder one wish and one wish only. The only thing that made any sense to Spike was that it was the Puzzle that had changed his friend, rather than anything that Twilight had done herself.

"Whatever she did, it worked." Rainbow shrugged, landing for the briefest of moments before taking off again, expressing her nervousness in her inability to stand still for even a few seconds. "So all we got to do is get her to wherever Nightmare Moon is hiding and..."

"I don't think that'll work, sugarcube." Applejack frowned, "They fought to a draw and that, that..."

"Blue creepy?" Pinkie finally piped up, seeming to have lost her tongue for a few minutes but having found it again in fine fashion, "Queen Meany?"

Applejack gave her a look that clearly said 'seriously?' and she was not the only one. Then as one they seemed to remember that it was Pinkie Pie talking and ignored it as Applejack turned to Big Mac and asked, "Can you look after the farm for me?" When he gave her a questioning look, the orange filly sighed, "Everypony's probably headed back there and we could lose the whole crop if the sun doesn't come back soon, besides you need to look after Applebloom and Granny Smith."

The huge stallion did not look happy, but he nuzzled his sister and nodded, "You come back safe, okay sis?" He asked, his speech slow and clearly carefully thought out, belying the smarts hidden away in his brain.

"I will. Promise." The earth pony promised her brother with a smile, "Dun worry 'bout me. I'm tough as old horseshoes. You're the one that has to herd the family."

Big Mac actually flinched at that. He still had no idea how his sister managed like she did when the Apple horde descended onto Sweet Apple Acres, but she had done rather well so far, he just half expected the entire rest of the horde to try and follow his sister in to the Everfree if she went with the Princess to try and defeat Nightmare Moon.

"Spike?" The baby dragon forgot all about the conversation at the soft call. He wheeled around to look at the unicorn who had hatched him. She was blinking around at the gathered group and their surroundings like she could not work out how they had gotten there or why the others were present.

"Twilight!" Spike darted over and hugged the unicorn, who froze for a moment, startled and then rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel him trembling against her, his scales itching slightly as he clung tightly, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"It's alright Spike," Twilight murmured, trying to ignore how the others were staring at them, "It'll be okay. How did we get back here?"

"You passed out, darling." Rarity informed her, coming over cautiously, "So Applejack's brother carried you here."

"E'yup." Big Mac agreed, nodding and bowing, reminding the other ponies to bow to.

"Wh...why are you bowing to me? All I did was cast a shield spell." Twilight asked, confused as the fillies followed the stallion's lead. "Please, get up."

"You were an Alicorn." Spike told her, his voice trembling as badly as the rest of him, "I thought you were gunna collapse and then you changed and..."

"I'm not now though." Twilight frowned as the others, slightly nervously, stood up. She could not remember changing. The last thing she could remember was thinking that she had failed and that she hoped Celestia would forgive her. It might have been something she had done accidently as she had blacked out but she did not know how.

"Are you alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, moving to her side. She looked worried, not about her but for her.

"That. Was. Amazing!" Dash interrupted before Twilight could answer, "You totally sent Nightmare Moon packing! She totally ran away with her tail between her legs."

That was not how the other ponies remembered it and certainly that had not been the case up until the point Twilight could remember, but they were all alive and Rainbow seemed so convinced of her facts that Twilight could not help but want more clarification.

"What happened? After I changed the first time? My memory's a little hazy, probably because of all the magic I was using." She questioned, needing more details if she was to understand what had happened and attempt it again _if_ , or rather, as she was half convinced after her last performance against the possessed Night Goddess, _when_ , she needed to.

"It was simply awful, darling." Rarity complained with an overdramatic swoon, "That horrid wave of magic was nearly through your shield and you nearly fell, I thought we were all going to..."

Rarity did not need to finish her sentence. Twilight had thought something similar as she had slipped into unconsciousness, unable to maintain the level of magic she had weaved into the shield against the tide that had been pushing against not only her magic but her mind and something deeper, some core part of her that she did not understand.

"Yeah, but you got back up and changed in a burst of gold light." Rainbow Dash picked up where Rarity had left off. "Then you totally sent Nightmare Moon running. She didn't know where to turn once your shield just soaked up her attack and she ran away to the Everfree Forest."

Twilight had heard of the Everfree on the edge of Equestria. The two Princesses had once ruled from a castle in the middle of it called the Castle of the Two Sisters. She had not ever expected to have to enter it however. "Spike, has Princess Celestia sent a letter?"

The baby dragon shook his head, looking worried. "I haven't had any letters to or from the palace since you sent yours, Twilight."

That was not good news. She just hoped it was because her brother had yet to find out that something had gone wrong rather than because Nightmare Moon had gone to the palace in Canterlot first. "All right, can you send a letter to my brother for me?" She asked Spike, "Then I need to find out more about the castle in the Everfree, because I bet that's where she's going."

"She did say she was going to the 'heart' of her old Kingdom." Applejack remembered, "Can we help?"

"You...want to help?" Twilight was actually surprised. No one except Spike had ever offered to help her when she was on a research kick before. Not for years anyway once they had realised how much work was going to be involved. Maybe that was why she had offered, because she thought it was going to be easy.

"Why not?" Applejack asked as Pinkie Pie started bouncing around the room, searching for books on the Everfree Forest or the Elements of Harmony. It'll all help and I've never shied away from a bit of hard work."

"I hate reading." Rainbow Dash grumbled as she started looking through the books that Pinkie had pulled off of the shelves.

Twilight smiled and let out an amused huff at that. She had heard the grumbling before. She seemed to be the only one who enjoyed trawling through books for hours to look for information. "Spike? You ready?" The baby dragon nodded and lifted quill to parchment. "Okay, dear Shining Armour." Spike started scribbling it down as the ears of the other ponies perked up to listen to her words, hoping to hear something more about the situation, "I don't know where Princess Celestia is or what happened, but Nightmare Moon is free. I fought her, apparently to a standstill but I don't remember it. I've completed my Millennium Puzzle and that apparently comes with a title. As 'Guardian of the Shadows' I think it's my job to go into the Everfree Forest after her and try and stop whatever she has planned so that's what I'm going to do once I have a location. I don't know what to suggest, I haven't had time to sit and think of a plan, but then you were always better at that than me." She sighed, "See you when this is all over. I'll be at the Castle of the Two Sisters…one way or another. Your loving sister, Twilight Sparkle." Spike finished it with a flourish, refusing to look at Twilight until it was sealed with her little insignia and sent in a puff of green flame.

"Twilight…" Spike hesitated before darting over and hugging her leg, "Don't go?" He pleaded, "Please? You don't know if you can do that again and…"He trailed off, still clinging to her leg.

"I have to Spike." Twilight sighed, hugging him with her other hoof, "There isn't anyone else. The Princess is counting on me."

"You're not alone, sugar." Applejack promised, "I'm coming with you."

"Yeah, me too." Rainbow Dash nodded, "She messed with Ponyville and that's not cool."

"This eternal night will do nothing for my complexion darling." Rarity added, "I'm in."

"And the widdle-animals will get all upset if the day doesn't come back." Fluttershy piped up. "So count me in too."

"The Everfree's all kind of weird and creepy." Pinkie Pie piped up, "It's really exciting! Let me come too!"

"I…" Twilight paused. She was going to say no, going to tell them that it was a bad idea and they should not go with her. However there was one thing that was stopping her and that was Unity. She needed the other ponies, they had saved her from getting trampled and even if she was not sure they were her friends yet, they did, at least want to help.

If she was honest with herself she was going to need all the help she could get. She did not know how she had survived her last fight, she did not know if she would again without a little assistance. "Thank you." She settled on finally, smiling at the others.

"You're welcome sugar cube." Applejack smiled back as Spike let go, feeling a little reassured as long as he knew that Twilight was not going to go alone.

"Hey, hey," Pinkie skidded a book over to Twilight, an old text called, 'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide' with a great big, bright, grin, "Will this help?"

"Yes!" Twilight practically pounced on it, flicking through the pages rapidly, searching through for something, anything that would make their search for the Elements easier or give them a more direct route to the castle. She did not like to admit it but as the others dove into whatever books they could find that might have useful information, she felt more like going back to sleep than going out into the Everfree.

That was not really an option though. Not with Nightmare Moon out there and waiting for her. If she did not go to the possessed alicorn, then she would come here, to her and the citizens of Ponyville could get hurt. She could not let that happen. She did not know why or how the alicorn, who was thousands of years old, recognised her but apparently she did and she hated her. There was no way, after that little display in the town hall that Nightmare Moon would let her just walk away and let her brother and his guards handle this.

She would have liked to think that she could handle this without the Elements, but she was no foal. She had only fought the Shadow tainted Alicorn to a standstill and that had been, relatively, rested. The next time that they met Nightmare Moon would have an advantage. They were going to her, rather than the other way around and the Alicorn formerly known as Luna would be well rested while Twilight was not even sure she could transform herself again. She needed them, needed the boost they would give her and anyone who went with her, if they were going to survive until dawn.

Not that Twilight had any idea of how to bring the sun back if defeating Nightmare Moon did not bring Celestia back. She did not know what had happened to her mentor to prevent her from being there in Ponyville when they had needed her, but she knew the Princess would never have abandoned her ponies when they needed her the most, so Nightmare Moon had to have done something to her. It was just another question to add to her expanding list for the next time she ran into the Alicorn.

"Ah ha!" She crowed as she found what she was looking for. The book was a lot more informative than anything she had in her own library back in Canterlot and as the other ponies gathered around, she started reading out the section that had caused her to cheer, "The marble forms of the first five Elements of Harmony, Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity and Kindness, were placed on a statue in the courtyard of the destroyed palace while the sixth was never recalled but when asked, the Princess said that when a 'spark' is applied to the other Elements, then it will appear. Several scholars have researched what she could mean, while others have tried to ask Princess Celestia for answers, but none have been forthcoming."

So we get to this statue, apply this 'spark' whatever that is, and kick Nightmare Moon's rump. What're we waiting for?" Rainbow Dash sounded sure of the outcome and Twilight wished she could have as much confidence as her. There was just so much that could go wrong.

"Uhhh, Twilight?" Spike asked, his nervous tone making the purple unicorn in question worried. She turned to look at the baby dragon, only to find that the horrid purple and black mist from before was seeping into the tree from underneath the door. "What is that stuff?"

"I don't know." Twilight admitted, though she hated to do so, "But I think it's the Shadows."

"The shadows? Rarity asked, confused.

"I hate to say it sugar cube," Applejack pitched in, backing up from the mist, "But these don't look like any shadows I've ever seen."

"I'll explain on the way." Twilight promised as she bolted for the door, opening it to find that the dark energy was not just spreading through her home. The mist was spreading out across Ponyville and beyond. Whatever Nightmare Moon was up to in the depths of the Everfree was sending the dark magic outwards across Equestria. Twilight did not know what she was up to, but she was pretty sure that they were out of time to find out. "Spike, stay here, please?" The unicorn asked her charge as she got halfway out of the door.

"But..." Spike started as Twilight half turned to look at him, "I can help."

Twilight was reminded how she had felt yesterday when she had realised that the Princess was sending her away. She had not really felt like Celestia had faith in her until she had read the letter this morning. She did not want to leave Spike feeling the same way, "It's not because I don't think you can help. If my brother comes, he'll need someone to tell him what's happened and where we've gone. Plus I have an important job for you."

"Oh?" Spike straightened his back at that, ready to receive orders and not wanting to let Twilight down.

"I need you to go to the mayor and give her all the help you can. She might need to send messages to other towns and warn them, or she might have other jobs you can do." Twilight informed him, "Think you can do that for me?"

"Yes but..." He hugged her leg for a moment and then let go, "Be careful."

"I will." Twilight promised him, hugging him with her other foreleg. He looked at her for a moment as if trying to work out how honest she was being, then nodded and scurried away. His friend let out a relieved sigh as she watched him go and then dashed away herself, only stopping when she reached the edge of the Everfree Forest.


	11. Challenged

From what she could see of the deep, dark woods, the Everfree was full of gnarled and twisted free with long, warped roots and low hanging, jagged branches. Very little light from the stars above passed through the thick, dark leaved foliage, leaving the forest beneath dark and difficult to see through and the roiling mist wasn't helping.

"Deep breath, Twilight." The unicorn told herself as she stepped forward, putting her hoof into the shadow cast by the huge, creepy old trees, "You can do this."

"Can you?" Twilight froze momentarily at the sound of someone speaking from above her, surprise making her react too slowly to the voice. The speaker swooped out of the trees and sent her tumbling to the ground at the feet of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, both of whom had come up behind her.

The dazed student looked up at what had hit her, only to see a form in the darkness, It was an odd, almost copy of Nightmare Moon. Close to fool a casual observer but different enough that Twilight could see straight away that it was not her. The thing in the Shadows was a stallion for a start, but not like she knew one. It was more a beast of darkness, literally. It had the rough, basic shape of a unicorn stallion, not much different in form in fact from Sir Art Nouveau. However it looked like it was made of the same thing as the mist and parts of its 'coat' of solid purple and black rolled off of it and either vanished into the ether or joined that which was already coating the ground.

"You think you can traverse my forest, little Princess?" The stallion of darkness smirked at her, speaking with Nightmare Moon's voice as it bared its sharp incisors and took a threatening snap at the group, "And win my game?"

"Game?" Twilight frowned as she got to her feet, glaring at the shadow born stallion. This had to be a trick, she was certain of it, "What kind of game?" She demanded as she stepped into the thicker mists beneath the trees and faced down the creepy, ghoulish pony.

The creature's smirk grew at that, causing Twilight to realise that she was being reeled in. "There are five tasks. Just five simple things for you to overcome. If you pass, I might let you see your precious Princess Celestia again. If you lose, however," The thing, for it no longer looked like a pony as it moved, its shape contorting and extending far beyond what it should. It shredded more of its coat of Shadows and loosed a dark and amused chuckle as its face stopped in front of the Guardian of Shadows and they locked eyes. "But if you lose, you will lose much more than just your chance to bring back the sun, little pony."

"I'm not afraid of you." Twilight lied, refusing to back down from both the creature before her and the one hiding behind of it, "Come out and face me."

"I don't think so. Why make this easy? Besides the game has already begun." The formerly pony shaped monster started dissolving into wisps, "You accepted my challenge the moment you stepped under the trees and into my domain. And so did they."

"What?" Twilight gasped, glancing over her shoulder to find the other ponies had already joined her under the trees.

"If you lose, little Princess," The creature whispered as it faded to almost nothing, "You and your little friends will never make it out of the Everfree alive. My Shadows will devour your souls."

"You fillies should go..." Twilight tried to push Applejack back, only to find that when the earth pony filly reached the edge of the trees, an invisible wall flared up. It shimmered with a purple light for a few milliseconds and prevented the pony from leaving the forest.

"Too late, little Princess." The air itself seemed to shake with the dark cackle that followed, "The game has begun. The only way out now is victory. For any of you." The voice got quieter and quieter as it vanished further into the forest, "Good luck, little Princess, you'll need it..."

"What the hey was that about?" Applejack demanded of Twilight as she turned to look at the unicorn, "I thought you wanted our help?"

"I do but..." Twilight trembled slightly as she realised they were trapped and she did not know what they were supposed to do to get back out again. 'Victory' was such a poorly defined concept when they did not know what the rules were for each task, or what would count as cheating, she did not know enough to be comfortable in leading the other ponies into danger. At least when they had agreed to come with her she had had some idea of what was going on and what to expect. Now there was an entire game to worry about with poorly defined rules and a huge ultimatum hanging over their heads.

"Hey, at least if we win we get to see Princess Celestia." Rainbow Dash offered with a grin, "And really, five little tasks? How hard can it be?"

"Might. We might get to see the Princess." Rarity reminded Rainbow, "She didn't promise but I do agree with you. There's six of us, we should be able to handle her nasty little tasks. As long as there's nothing sticky and gross." Rarity shuddered in overly dramatic horror at the idea, making the other ponies smile slightly.

"Do you think she can really steal souls?" Fluttershy asked, her whisper of a voice carrying well in the worryingly silent forest.

"Yeah and what was that thing?" Dash demanded, swooping overhead as best she could but finding flying difficult amongst the branches. On occasions she had to come within millimetres of the ground to avoid them and Twilight found herself wishing that Dash would just walk for a little bit, for her own safety.

"M...My dam-sire," Twilight licked her lips and tried to pull her focus back onto the facts when she caught herself stammering, "Treasure Trove, he used to tell me stories about things he had learned on his many excursions to the part of Saddle Arabia that used to be Equigypt. He told me horror stories about what happened to others who tried to complete my puzzle, some were driven crazy, others saw things, strange creatures of mist and shadows, yet another fell into a coma from which they never woke up...supposedly they thought it was the Princess's Curse, but I'm wondering if it was the Shadows rather than the Princess. After all ghosts don't exist."

"Hold up, you knew all of that and you were still working on it?" Dash looked impressed, "Pretty brave."

"What are the Shadows anyway, sugar?" Applejack asked, glancing over at the unicorn who seemed to know so much. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Neither have I." Twilight admitted, disliking the fact and already planning to write down everything so she had some sort of reference for the next time this happened. If it something went wrong again, which she had an odd feeling it would, she wanted to be ready for it. "But my teacher left me a letter and..."

As Twilight explained the contents of the letter, they continued walking, heading further and further into the gloom. It was cold and Twilight had a slight headache as she told them everything that Celestia had told her, figuring that forewarned was forearmed. The silence around them was oppressive too, the weight of it weighing on their minds as they slowly slipped into a rather fearful and wary march.

It was far too quiet for their peace of mind. The Everfree Forest was supposed to be full of creatures, both friendly and less so. That they could not hear anything amongst the trees except for the sound of their own hooves was distressing. There was not even the sound of the wind whistling through the trees to break the sound of their hooves stomping the hard, dry mud on the floor and it was getting to all of them as they entered a copse of gnarled and twisted trees.

"I can't take it anymore!" Dash was the first to break the silence. Her frustrated cry echoed through the trees and seemed to bounce off of the roof of foliage over their heads, "The quiet is driving me nuts!"

"Easy Rainbow." Applejack, who had seen this coming from the explosive pegasus sighed, "We're all gettin' wound up, but yelling won' help no pony."

"It makes me feel better." Rainbow grumbled, actually landing for the first time since they had entered the forest, surprising Twilight who had begun to doubt that Rainbow actually knew how to use her hooves since she spent so much time up in the air. "And..." Rainbow trailed off as the nearby bushes rustled, causing the first sound that wasn't caused by them in what felt like hours.

"Hello?" Twilight asked nervously, her voice trembling slightly as the bushes rustled again, "Anypony there?"

A low, threatening growl was the reply as a group of creatures with fur not unlike the stallion who had met them at the entrance and white, almost glowing teeth, stalked towards them out of the bushes. They were canine in shape, at least vaguely and the shadows rolled off of them as they moved forward.

"A...Are those timber wolves?" Rarity asked with a frightened squeak as she backed up, crashing into Fluttershy, who shook her head.

"N...No, th...they're not..." The pale yellow pegasus pony shook her head, taking a few steps back. "The...they're different."

"Whatever they are they ain' gettin' past me." Applejack promised as she got between Fluttershy and the advancing beasts.

"Or me." Rainbow Dash swore, taking to the air for a second, her wing tips just brushing the canopy before she swooped down and launched herself at the wolves, scattering the pack. One of the shadowy wolves tried to attack Fluttershy but Applejack dove into the fray knocking it aside as Rainbow's second swoop sent another tumbling back into the underbrush.

Twilight launched an offensive blast of magic, the purple beam striking the nearest one, knocking it away but not seeming to hurt it. The dazed creature crashed into another one, sending them sprawling like dominos. Pinkie Pie could not help herself and started laughing at the ridiculousness of it.

Shockingly the noise seemed to hurt the creatures, all of whom let out a whining noise and cowered, backing up slightly, though the moment she stopped, confused, they started advancing again, snarling louder than before, this gaze firmly fixed on the pink pony who had caused them such discomfort.

"Laughter!" Twilight realised, "It's an Element of Harmony! The Shadows were beaten by Unity! They're the same thing!"

"These big scary dogs are frightened by a little laughter?" Dash questioned, wanting to make sure she had heard that right.

"Hey, don't complain if it works…" Applejack shot back, knocking another canine monstrosity back. The Shadows coating it began to dissipate at the strike, revealing a shaggy silver fur that reminded Twilight of something she had seen earlier.

"If we just need to laugh…" Pinkie actually looked serious for all of about three seconds before she pulled out a huge cannon from Celestia only knew where and fired it, letting loose a mass of streamers and confetti that festooned the trees and wolves alike, Rarity and Rainbow could not help but burst into giggles at the sight of the shadowy silver creatures decorated with neon streamers and coated in multi-coloured confetti. The sound of caused the wolves to recoil again, shaking off the confetti but unable to strip themselves of the streamers.

Their attempts caused Fluttershy to let out a soft giggle that sounded embarrassed for the poor wolves and forced the monsters further back again.

With enough of the darkness gone from the creatures, Twilight recognised them as Silver Fang. A beast type duel monster with fourteen hundred attack points. The silver unicorn filly in town had used the creature in her duel earlier. The dark tainted Goddess had to have summoned them to attack the group of ponies traversing the woods.

"If Nightmare Moon can do it…why can't I?" Twilight asked herself, drawing a card using her magic and becoming amused when it proved to be the Dark Magician, a card she had had in her deck for almost as long as she had played the game. "Alright," She took a deep breath, knowing that if this did not work, she was going to look like a fool, "Dark Magician," She called, putting a little of the magic she could pull from the Puzzle into the card, "I summon you, in attack mode!"

The unicorn stallion appeared in a swirl of darkness and glanced around. His eyes rested on Twilight for a moment and widened, before he bowed to her deeply, practically touching the floor with his muzzle.

"Um…hi." Twilight knew the others were watching her and looked embarrassed as the stallion before her straightened, though he maintained a deferential pose, "Attack the Silver Fang, please?"

The Dark Magician nodded and threw his staff up into the air, catching it between his teeth before slamming it into the two members of the pack who had tried to sneak up behind Pinkie Pie. The pair loosed a pained howl and shattered into a million shards of an oddly brown light which temporarily flash blinded the ponies, causing them to miss the duel monster taking out another three, though Twilight sensed the magic he used to blow one of them away.

When their vision cleared, there was only one Silver Fang left and he had his teeth clamped around the magician's staff, trying to tug it away from him.

Twilight forced out a peal of laughter and the beast let go, backing off with a howl of pain that vanished into the ether as the Dark Magician blasted it with a pulse of what was clearly Shadow magic. Once it had dissolved completely into the mist on the ground, the stallion turned to look at Twilight. She surprised the male unicorn by bowing back to him with a smile, "Thank you." She told him softly, "You can go now, if you want."

The unicorn seemed to take a moment to decide something, then nuzzled her gently but reassuringly, reminding her of her brother, Shining Armour. Then he bowed again and vanished in a swirl of black energy.

There was silence for a moment from the other fillies who had accompanied her, then Rainbow Dash swooped over, landed at her side and looked her in the eye as she told her, "You have to teach me that."

"Yes, darling, that was simply marvellous." Rarity agreed with an impressed look.

"It wasn't…my idea first." Twilight admitted, looking embarrassed, "Those wolves were duel monsters. Nightmare Moon must have summoned them as our first task. I just copied her."

"Hey if it worked it worked." Applejack laughed, budging her with a smile. Twilight nudged back, happy when she felt a little of the pressure that had been weighing down on them lift, as if her theory was right and they had passed their first trial.

"Oh yeah, one down, four to go!" Rainbow laughed, weaving between the branches with much more ease that she had before, while Pinkie Pie looked a little more bouncy and Fluttershy actually smiled, looking a little reassured.


	12. Daring Feats

"Excuse me, Princess Twilight?" Fluttershy asked shyly as they continued though the forest, both Twilight and Rarity using a basic 'candlelight' spell to create little balls of light that hovered just over their horn tips to light the way a little better, "What're the other Elements again?"

"Yeah, if Laughter helped us get past the first trial, the others might help with the rest." Dash agreed as she hovered above them.

"I'm not a Princess, not really." Twilight sighed, "I don't know why Nightmare Moon keeps calling me that. I mean I still don't know how I managed to transform myself last time, but it must have been a spell or something…" She paused and took a deep breath and moved away from the subject, hating that she did not know something, "There's five Elements that are known," She settled into lecture mode, "Laughter is one of them, then we have Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness and Generosity. I'm not sure how we could weaponize any of those though, I think we're probably going to have to just play it by ear a lot of the time."

"Well laughing at the wolves worked, so I bet we can work it out somehow." Pinkie Pie seemed unbothered by the uncertainty, an attitude that both bothered Twilight and made her slightly envious. She knew she generally over thought things, it was a part of who she was. She was not like a lot of other ponies who could jump into something and change the plans. She had a weekly schedule and she stuck to it like glue. This whole fiasco was ruining it but for once it was okay, purely because her plans had been to celebrate the rising of the sun with Spike, which she obviously could not do without a sun in the sky.

Sometimes though she envied the ability of most of the other ponies she knew. They could adapt and change their plans without feeling stressed or worried and act on a whim. Twilight had to plan time to do things like that into her schedule. She even had assigned 'worrying' times. She could not help but wonder if the mess she was in countered as one of those and if she could move one up from further in her timetable in order to reorder her week once this was over.

The woods seemed a little less scary with the knowledge that they could frighten off the creatures made from the darkness with a simple laugh and their pace picked up, especially once they made it past the canopy of trees that cut the river that trailed through the Everfree Forest off from the rest of Equestria. Rainbow Dash let out a whoop and shot skyward, enjoying the open air. She soared upwards, needing to spread her wings after being cooped up under the trees for so long.

"Aren't you going to join her?" Twilight asked Fluttershy curiously, only for the light yellow unicorn to shake her head.

"I don't need the sky like Dash does." The animal loving filly replied with an embarrassed smile, "I tend to stay a lot closer to the ground. I mean I can fly, but…"

"You don't like to?" Twilight asked softly. Fluttershy shook her head, blushing slightly and scuffing the floor with her right fore-hoof. "That's okay, you can help us to work out how to get across the river while Rainbow's stretching her wings."

The river in question looked placid but that did not mean anything. It could be hiding a rapid current underneath that, could catch them as they tried to swim across. If it did it would quite easily drag them under and they would never make it to the other side, yet alone the Palace of the Two Sisters.

Rainbow swooped overhead, doing a loop-de-loop which looked very pretty with the rainbow trailing behind her, but was not helpful. Twiilght realised she was not trying to be when Applejack let out a startled exclamation and a trio of black pegasi shot past in hot pursuit, driving Rainbow further up into the clouds.

The pale blue pegasus in question was hard pressed to keep the trio off of her tail as she lost sight of her friends because of the cloud cover. She had no idea where they had come from, but they were shockingly fast, almost as quick as her and that was saying something. They were not as agile though and that was where she had the advantage.

They were dressed a lot like the Wonderbolts, except their jump suits were a dark purple, their goggles were all the same shade except for the glass which was a bright and slightly glowing purple and their head gear was black. What creeped her out a little was the cutie marks emblazoned on the flanks of their jumpsuits. A white pony skull with a wing extending from it made it quite clear that they were not fooling around.

"Found you." One of them, the only mare of the group if she was right, crowed as she appeared from below Rainbow, "Boys, she's over here!"

Dash did not give the other two a chance to arrive, doing a wingover and vanishing into the cotton like clouds. The mare let out a frustrated noise and followed her, calling out, "Rainbow Dash, we just want to talk..."

' _Which was why they tried to knock me out of the skies.'_ Dash thought sarcastically, staying silent, _'There's no way they should know my name either. They have to be a trick or a summon, like those wolves...'_

"Forget her." Rainbow's train of thoughts got derailed when she heard one of the stallions talking, "She's long gone, probably back to the barrier out. Let's go deal with the others, especially the Princess."

Oh no. That was not happening. She was not allowing it to happen. Dash dove through the cloud cover and emerged the other side in time to see her friends who had been crossing the river carefully being divebombed by the trio of pegasi who had been chasing her a few moments earlier.

"Hey! Did I say you could ignore me?" Rainbow demanded before barrelling into the mare who tumbled in midair, nearly sending both of them into the deeper waters just a little further down.

"Who said we wanted to ignore you?" The mare smirked as she righted herself, "We want you on our side, Rainbow Dash, and we'll do anything to get it."

Rainbow did not get a chance to ask what the hell she meant before one of the stallions slammed into her, knocking her skywards, away from both the river and the mare.

"Rainbow!" She could hear Twilight's worried call and saw Fluttershy actually take off, as if to help.

She did not react to either. Instead she smirked at the triad of dark pegasi and shot skywards, leaving behind a challenge of "If you want me, come and get me!"

The trio of pegasi followed at such a pace that Rainbow was hard pressed to stay ahead. It was exhilarating as much as it was scary and Dash caught herself letting out a genuinely delighted laugh as she narrowly dodged a sideswipe from the bigger of the two stallions.

The dark pony in question yelped and dropped a couple of foot at the sound, making Dash take in a sharp intake of breath. They were not ponies anymore than the wolves had been. The pegasi chasing her were simply a product of the darkness or something summoned by Nightmare Moon in order to stop their progress.

That revelation cost her though and she let out a pained cry and tumbled nearly twenty foot straight down as the bigger of the two stallions collided with her deliberately. Before she could right herself the second stallion had slammed into her and sent her rocketing sideways where she collided with the side of a mountain before bouncing off of the solid rock and tumbling down, stunned by the pain and dazed by the collisions.

It was, shockingly, the mare who stopped her painfully colliding with the floor. The false pegasus moved a cloud into Rainbow's path. The pale blue filly landed on it instead of the hard, rocky ground below.

"Y...You helped me?" Rainbow stared at the mare in shock as she tried to pull herself to her feet, wincing as her muscles protested and her injuries pulled.

"I told you Rainbow Dash, we want you for our team." The mare replied, "Which means you're no use to us dead."

"What team?" Dash snorted, preparing to take off again and flinching as her wings snapped open but pain flared down her right side, "You're not real."

"Oh we're just as real as you are, Rainbow Dash. When Nightmare Moon told us that the best flyer in all of Equestria was passing through we just had to meet you and get you to join our team. Forget the Princess and those losers and come work with us. We could be better than the Wonderbolts and we want you as our captian."

It was too good to be true. Which was a shame because it sounded wonderful.

"Yeah, right, I'm supposed to believe some awesome flying squad was just passing through the Everfree when a demonic Princess passed through and just happened to tell them that the best flyer in all of Equestria was passing through? The only part I believe is that I'm the best." Dash snorted, "And even if it was true, you introduced yourself by attacking me and when you lost sight of me, you went after my friends and that's not okay. Now go away, I'm not joining your team and I'm not letting you hurt my friends, not even Princess Twilight. I might not know her very well, but she's worth a million of you."

"Wrong choice, Rainbow Dash." The mare growled out, launching herself at her. Dash narrowly escaped the strike by folding her wings, jumping off of the cloud and dropping like a stone out of the sky. The three evil pegasi followed her down at high speed, not wanting to lose her, only for Dash to open her wings at the last minute and pull up. The mare managed to copy her antics, soaring up after her, but the two stallions collided with the ground, hard and burst into clouds of purple and black mist.

"Two down." Rainbow panted, trying to ignore the pain in her side and the complaints of her wings as she climbed again, fully aware that the mare was on her tail. "Just one to go…"

"Yes," The mare shot up in front of her, forcing Dash to break hard, making her let out a pained whimper as her muscles, which were pushed to their limits, screamed for her to stop. "But that last one is me," The mare smirked, "Nightingale. And I always deliver."

"Yeah well, not this time." Dash snorted, diving down and skimming the river, trying to keep an eye on where Nightingale was. "How the hell does a Shadow creature have a name, anyway?"

"If you have to know," Dash started and nearly tumbled into the water as Nightingale pulled up alongside her, looking smug, "My brothers and I were normal ponies before we were banished to the Shadows. We live there now and when we're defeated in this world, we just end up back in the dark. You'll be joining us soon. Nightmare Moon has sworn it."

"No way." Dash snapped back, barging Nightingale and rowing for height, fully aware she was slowing down, "Even if you get me, my friends will fix it and I'll be me again before you know it."

"Not if your mortal form is dead." Rainbow did not have time to react to that as Nightingale collided with her and forced her down into the river. The pair of pegasi plunged into the deep river, just down from where the others had crossed and Dash found herself caught in the currents.

Nightingale transformed into purple mist and fled, leaving Rainbow in the river alone. She struggled and fought against the current desperately heading for the surface, but the current was too strong for her and her muscles were too heavy from the heavily draining flying she had been doing before. The lack of rest between her practises and now and the fact she had had no chance to take a deep breath before she had been plunged into the waters did not help as she struggled for air.

Then, just as her world was going dark something orange plunged into the river next to her and grabbed her before pulling on a rope with her teeth. Somepony had to be on the other end of it as they were slowly dragged to shore but Dash was not conscious to see them touch down on dry land.

Twilight watched in stunned horror as Fluttershy shoved Applejack aside and started trying to get Rainbow Dash breathing again, her shock breaking a little as she heard cackling from above. She looked up as a shadow passed over them and revealed itself to be the same pegasus mare who had driven Dash into the water.

Something in Twilight snapped when she saw the mare was coming in for a fresh strike as they tried to save their friend and the puzzle glowed brightly, the same changes overcoming Twilight's form as she stared up at the pegasus.

Nightingale pulled up sharply when she saw the unicorn grow taller and wings sprouted from her back. Wide purple eyes narrowed and turned a bitter, angry ruby red as the heavily damaged wings spread to cover the alicorn's back and rump and dark magic swirled around her like flames. She was no fool. She recognised power when she saw it and the alicorn before her was nothing but power.

Still she had sworn that she would deal with the Princess and her guards when she had been summoned. Nightmare Moon had promised freedom for her and her brothers if they managed it so alicorn or unicorn, Princess Twilight was going down and going down hard.

"What's the matter, Princess?" Nightingale sneered, glad at she did not have to outrun an alicorn in the skies. Rainbow Dash had proved a surprisingly good challenge and Nightingale was tired and sore. Up in the skies, however, she had the advantage. "Too afraid to fly? Oh wait, you can't. Those wings wouldn't lift a butterfly, yet alone a fat mare like you."

Twilight glanced over her shoulder when she heard Rainbow coughing and spluttering behind her, bringing up the water she had swallowed and the momentary distraction gave Nightingale the opening she was looking for. She rammed into the Alicorn, sending her sprawling before rowing for height.

The Princess ignored the concerned calls of her allies as she carefully watched Nightingale's flight trajectory. Just because she could no longer fly, it did not mean she did not know what to expect of an aerial combatant and the pegasus was overconfident. She chuckled darkly as Nightingale swooped in to finish her, taking a leaf from her earlier battle and calling up a card from her deck but not a monster this time.

Instead the mare, who, if her muzzle and ears were any indication, was actually of a similar shade of coat to Rainbow Dash, went crashing into a wall of light and bounced off, hitting the floor hard. One wing wrenched out of place in the collision leaving the pegasus in a great deal of pain as she picked herself up and just as ground bound as Twilight.

"You'll pay! You'll pay!" Nightingale screamed at her as she charged her, lowering her head with the intent to ram the alicon. Twilight dodged it easily and tripped the furious shadow spirit. She stumbled and staggered a few steps further than she had intended giving the Princess enough time to blast her with the same spell she had been using to keep the creatures from earlier at bay.

It sent Nightingale tumbling, the already injured pegasus going sliding across the ground before coming to a halt at the water's edge, her goggles going tumbling into the river. Fear was clear on her features as Twilight approached, she knew she could not win. That had been clear from the moment that she had lost her ability to fly, but accepting defeat meant losing her chance to get her and her brothers out of the dark void they had been trapped in for so long. Even now if she died she would just return to that dark place instead of moving on. She had to get away.

The Princess seemed to have no intention of letting her do that as she stood before her, anger clear and magic crackling around her. Nightingale cowered, hoping that showing that she knew she was beaten would get her off lightly or make the Alicorn make a mistake.

"You hurt my friend," Twilight snapped, her voice stern and disapproving as she glowered down at the terrified shadow spirit, "Trespassed in my soul, and you've lost at your own little twisted game."

That was far too true for Nightingale's liking and she let out a whimper before begging, "Please," She tried, "I'm sorry. I didn't know..."

"Yes you did, don't lie, it only makes it worse." The Alicorn hissed at her, cutting her off, "You were aiming to kill Rainbow Dash when you drove her into the river."

"Please, I'm sorry," Nightingale backed up, knowing she was in trouble, "Please, I'm beaten, you don't need to..."

"Twilight." Fluttershy called, causing the purple former-unicorn to perk an ear up, twitching it slightly in her direction. It was the only indicator that she had heard the pale yellow pegasus but Fluttershy cantered up to the Princess's side and then stood between her and Nightingale. "You're better than this. You're not Nightmare Moon. Don't let it control you like it does her."

Red eyes narrowed a little further as Twilight harrumphed and backed up a couple of steps, giving the flyer a little more room, her anger clear. "She hurt Rainbow Dash."

"I know." Fluttershy informed her, her voice stronger than normal. She had a soft but worried smile as she glanced towards the blue filly who was looking a little shaky but otherwise okay, "But Rainbow's okay now. Princess Celestia wouldn't want you to fall to the power and neither does Rainbow, right?" The last was directed to Rainbow Dash who shook her head, "See?"

"But..." Twilight started.

"A little kindness goes a long way." The animal loving pegasus pony told her softly, before looking at Nightingale, "If we let you go, will you leave us alone?"

"I...yes, I swear." Nightingale nodded rapidly, having already decided to stay far away from the possessed Alicorn in the castle in the middle of the forest and terrified of the dark flames licking around the Alicorn before her. She was fully aware that the Shadows she could feel from the Princess could do so much worse to her then kill her current form and send her soul back to the darkness and wanted nothing more than to get as far away from her as possible. If she could not win, after all, she had to survive, for her brothers.

"She's not a threat. You can let her go." Fluttershy told Twilight with all the patience and care offered to one of the more dangerous creatures the pegasus dealt with on a daily basis. The angry Alicorn snorted but backed up a little more, watching as her friend turned to the Shadowbolt. "Are you hurt?" She asked, showing the same concern that she gave any pony.

Nightingale looked started as she nodded, extending her wrenched wing as far as she could. Fluttershy let out a worried sound as she started examining it, "This is going to hurt and you'll need to rest it." She warned, "I'd say for you to get this done properly by a Doctor, but do shadow things even have Doctors?"

"N...no." Nightingale admitted, startled by the question, "You want to heal me?"

"I can't heal it, but I can put it right so it'll heal right by itself." Fluttershy offered, "If you want. I mean."

"Y...yes, thank you." She stammered, nodding rapidly. Her form would reset when she was sent back into the darkness but she had no intention of going back yet and a functional wing would go a long way to helping her avoid the demon Alicorn that taken over the forest.

"You're welcome." Fluttershy smiled at her, "Now, hold still. Applejack, can I have a hoof please?"

"Uhh…" Applejack glanced at Twilight and Dash, both of whom nodded, though one did not look too happy while the other looked unsure. Then she cantered forward, moving to Fluttershy's side. "What'dya need?"

"Just a little strength." Fluttershy replied directing Applejack to the right places to hold the joint. The orange earth pony followed her lead, full aware that Fluttershy had nursed birds that had dislocated their wings before and sure this would not be much different. "Now, ready?" She asked the injured pegasus, who looked worried.

"Ready for wha…ahh!" Nightnigale cried out in pain as the surprisingly strong but timid pony, with Applejack's assistance reset the dislocated limb and leaned against Applejack for a few moments to prevent her legs buckling as the earth pony let go. "Hay and horsefeathers!" Nighingale gasped as she pulled herself together.

"Sorry." Fluttershy actually looked embarrassed as she checked the appendage was back in place properly and that it could extend correctly again, "But I don't have anything to dull the pain with me. My medicines are back at my cottage."

"Th...That's fine." Nightingale shook her head as she let Fluttershy check her wing and noting that while it hurt, it was nowhere near as bad as the pain she had been in while the joint had been out of place. "Thank you for what you've done. I owe you one."

With that she took off, leaving the party from Ponyville behind. Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh as she watched Nightingale lift off and vanish out of sight above the trees they had just come through. Then she turned to the Alicorn their friend had become, expecting to have to talk her down still. That turned out to be unnecessary. The mare before her seemed confused but much calmer than the pegasus would have expected of her.

The pale yellow filly considered the Princess before her carefully. She did not look exactly the same as their friend. Her coat was a couple of shades darker for a start and the wings were a new addition, though Fluttershy could not help but internally wince when she saw them, for as little as she like flying she could not help but remember the horror stories of pegasi who had gone crazy because they had been grounded by such injuries. It was the eyes more than anything that indicated to Fluttershy that this Twilight and the 'normal' one were not the same. She had to pay close attention to her animals if she wanted to work out what was wrong with them, since none of them could talk and the eyes were normally the best way to read an animal's true mood.

The normal Twilight's eyes were wide and bright with curiousity and, most importantly, purple. While the Alicorn's were narrowed with suspicion and if she was reading them right, a little fear, though what such a powerful pony was frightened of was beyond Fluttershy and red, very red, like the rubies that Rarity had dug up the other day for one of her fabulous jewellery pieces.

She did not get a chance to ask though as the puzzle flashed and suddenly it _was_ Twilight Sparkle she was looking at, though she seemed confused for a few moments, as if trying to regain her bearings. Then the unicorn spotted Dash was on her feet and a huge smile crossed her features and relief shone through.


	13. Dangerous Advances

"You're okay?" Twilight asked as she cantered over to Rainbow's side and looked her over, as if needing to check she was okay for herself. The pale blue, rather soggy pegasus let out a slightly shaky laugh and nodded.

"Yeah, takes more than a little water to keep me down." She looked a little less confident then she sounded, but it was enough for Twilight for now. "At least we know you can transform without passing out."

The unicorn tried not to frown at that. She had guessed that she had changed form somehow again, but once again she could not remember it. She did not say anything though, the others had enough in their minds without worrying about her. It was quite plausible that the stress of the transformation was why her mind blocked out what happened while she was an Alicorn, but she needed to find a way around it. That was something she did not have time to work on now, though, not while they were in the middle of Nightmare Moon's 'game.'

"You sure you're alright to carry on?" Twilight pressed, concerned for the pegasus only to get a scornful look in return.

"I'd better be, there's no going back, remember?" Rainbow reminded her, "We're trapped until we win. Besides, I think I saw a path that will take us straight to the castle while I was outstripping those pegasi."

That caused a cheer amongst Rainbow's friends. They were all getting tired, having stayed up all night and been busy preparing the previous day and there was not one amongst them that did not hope to get this finished soon and get back to civilisation and their nice warm beds soon.

"Lead the way, Rainbow." Twilight told her, causing the pale blue pegasus to salute her with a cheeky grin before she lifted off, clearly favouring one side as she went. Applejack and Twilight shared a worried glance as Rainbow started gliding in the direction that they needed to go but neither said a word in order to prevent the others becoming concerned. Instead they followed Rainbow as she flew overhead.

The path the filly took sent them up a narrow cliff path and more than once they had to watch their footing as the edge crumbled away to reveal a rather nasty drop. Not for the first time did Twilight envy the pegusi their wings as Fluttershy took to the skies the first time she nearly slipped and stayed there and Rainbow Dash stayed above and kept guiding them forward.

She was not the only one who wished she had wings, Applejack admitted about halfway up the cliff face, looking a bit nervous as she peered over the edge into the mist below that was a strange mix of the black and purple of the Shadows and the white of pure, natural fog. "Not that I mind heights." The orange earth pony explained as they climbed, even Pinkie being careful as they went, "But I prefer ma feet on the ground, or at leas' on somethin' solid, yer know?"

Twilight did know and she nodded her agreement as Rarity piped up, "This isn't my idea of fun either, darling." She added, nerves clear in her tone, "Why build a castle out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"It's been 'bout a thousan' years since it were used, right, Twilight?" Applejack asked, startling Twilight who had not thought the others had been paying that much attention to what she had been saying on their way through the first part of the forest. She nodded and the earth filly turned back to the white unicorn, "So its probably overgrown by now. Bet it were something special when the Princesses were 'ere."

"Wouldn't envy the gardeners though." Twilight muttered. She did not realise that she had been speaking out loud until she heard Fluttershy giggle and Rarity snigger in a rather unladylike fashion. She blushed, embarrassed, but none of the others seemed to mind. Instead it lifted the mood a little as they traversed the dangerous terrain.

About halfway up the path, Rarity thought to ask a question that no one else had dared, "Twilight, dear?" She asked, her tone hesitant, "Are you really an Alicorn or a unicorn?"

"Unicorn." Twilight told her firmly, certain of that fact. She had been a unicorn her entire life and she had never heard of any pony doing what she could do and change themselves into an Alicorn and back again. There had not been anything in her books that had suggested that it was even possible to do the change once, yet alone twice. "I was born a unicorn but I think..." She bit her lip, trying to work out how to explain her theory to the others without sounding quite mad.

"Is it your pendant?" Pinkie asked without preramble. The pink earth pony was as blunt as ever and Twilight welcomed it as it meant someone elsehad brought up the theory that it was something to do with the ancient artefact she was wearing. "Cause it flashes every time you change or get really mad or upset."

"I think so." Twilight nodded, "I only finished it last night, so I don't know everything it does, but it's quite possible. Especially when you consider the legends around it."

"Legends?" Fluttershy asked nervously, having been keeping close enough to hear every word.

That led Twilight into explaining all the stories that dam-sire had told her, though she tried to stick to the better ones. She was really getting into one of them when Rainbow yelled down, "Watch out!" and they heard the cry of a huge bird.

The group on the cliff did not get a chance to react before the source of the call was on them, raking the path with its humongous great talons. They were lucky in one respect. The huge blue feathered creature was too big to grab any of them properly, but they were still swept in different directions as they were knocked about.

Twilight let out a startled and horrified cry as her back legs left the relatively solid floor behind and she slid down the cliff face a few feet, leaving her on her own on the ledge below her friends and unable to see them for the thick fog.

"Dun worry Twi," Applejack called down to her, "We're comin' to get ya."

"No!" Twilight whinnied back unable to hear the bird except for a slight whistling in the air and not wanting her friends to risk themselves for her, "Head up, I'll join you."

"But..." Further discussion was cut off by the bird swooping in for another attempt. Twilight heard Fluttershy yelp and Applejack snap, "No yer don't, yer feathered menace!" before there was sound of hooves connecting with something hard.

With a painful screech the bird went tumbling down the ledge, nearly hitting Twilight on its way down and fell further again, below the fog line. The unicorn peered over the edge, trying to see it but there was too much mist in the way for her to see what had happened.

"Twilight? Yer okay?" Applejack bellowed down to her, sounding worried. "Where're ya?"

Twilight thought for a moment then sent up a flare of light, an emergency beacon that had been the first thing that Celestia had ever taught her, just in case something happened. At the time she had not seen the use for it, but now, with her friends out of sight, she recognised that it would help.

The burst of purple light that her power manifested bathed the area in a slightly eerie glow, but allowed the ponies on the trail to see each other. Pinkie Pie waved down to Twilight who could not help but smile ruefully and wave back.

Applejack started tying her rope around herself as Twilight tried to work out how far up the side of the cliff she could get via her ledge. The answer was not very far and the unicorn let out a frustrated huff. She had been learning a teleportation spell when Celestia had stopped her studies for the holiday and she was not sure how confident she was that she would be able to cast it and not put herself a couple of foot to the left or right. Appearing in the middle of the rock face would be a gruesome way to go and would not aid anyone and placing herself in midair would be just as bad.

Twilight's train of thoughts derailed when Applejack threw the other end of the rope down to her. "Tie it roun' yerself." The earth pony filly called down, "I'll pull ya up."

Twilight was not too sure about it. She knew Applejack was supposedly very strong, Pinkie had mentioned her strength being impressive several times and part of being an earth pony was being stronger than the other two types, but she was not sure that it would be enough to manage her weight. Still she followed direction, trusting her friend and let out a startled yelp as her hooves left the floor.

She was a few yards off of being safely on the higher ledge when there was a deafening screech and the bird was on them, seizing the rope and dragging both Twilight and Applejack into the air. Neither pony knew what to do as they were pulled higher and higher into the air, easily losing their other friends in the fog. The only one that managed to keep up with the bird was Rainbow Dash and even she struggled a little with her injuries.

Twilight kind of wanted to demand that the bird put them down, but she had no idea how far it was to the floor below and she did not have wings. Her Alicorn form did but she did not know how to cause the change and she refused to risk another pony's life on a whim. Applejack seemed to be of a similar mind as she remained silent right up until they passed a ridge and the bird let go, dropping them both. They only fell a foot before they connected with solid ground, but it felt like a blessing to both ground bound ponies. A tainted one as the huge bird landed in front of them and squawked at them furiously, pecking at the air just in front of them, but a blessing none the less.

"What is tha' bird?" Applejack asked as she narrowly avoided being pierced by the huge beak, which snapped the rope connecting the two ponies.

Twilight laughed, a nervous, slightly hysterical laugh as she realised she did not know. Once again she did not know something important. This whole day so far had been full of things she did not know or could not remember and she was going a little bit crazy because of it. She was the one with the answers, she never ever either did not have answers or could not find them out. "I don't know, I really don't know..."

"I do." Rainbow called as she hovered between Applejack and Twilight, glaring at the huge clearly carnivorous bird before her, "It's a winged-beast. A duel monster, just like those Silver Fang. Must be the third task."

They did not have a chance to discuss further as the duel monster in question took off, the down draft nearly knocking both non-winged ponies off of the ridge and sending Rainbow Dash tumbling through the air. Twilight saved her from being pierced by the sharp beak of the worrying quick, but not very agile bird by blasting the winged-beast with a bolt of her magic. It let out a screech and tumbled a few feet and by the time it had righted itself, so had Rainbow.

The pale blue pegasus swooped over the heads of Applejack and Twilight as she tried to row for height, only to find that she did not have the strength left in her to manage more than a few yards higher. That was fine though as Applejack managed to tie the cut rope together and make a lasso that she used to catch one of the creature's legs as it chased her. Twilight grabbed her as she started sliding forward and tried to prevent the bird taking off with them holding onto the rope by conjuring a heavy weight that she tied to the end with her magic. It helped a little, giving Rainbow a chance to buck the bird in one of its eyes, causing it to let out an agonised screech and lash out at everything in range. The rope snapped again and both earth pony and unicorn went tumbling as the now half-blind duel monster tried to eat Rainbow.

The pegasus was no foal and knew she could not outrun the bird as she was. Instead she took cover in a narrow cave that provided enough cover that the winged-beast would not be able to get her.

"Hey!" Twilight yelled, casting another beam at the duel monster and fumbling for her deck, aware of at least one thing within it that could fly, "Leave her alone!"

"I think yer made it mad." Applejack commented nervously as its head snapped around and it narrowed its one good eye at them, as if deciding that it really did not like them and they looked tasty. The screech it let out as it turned towards them, deciding to come back for Rainbow Dash, was deafening and all three ponies covered their ears with their hooves to try and block out the high pitched squawk.

That gave the bird the opening it needed, allowing it to rake the ridge and seize Twilight in its talons. The unicorn let out a terrified and pained cry as she was once again wrenched from the solid ground, this time crushed in a painfully tight grip.

This was it. She had not only failed to beat Nightmare Moon's trials, not only failed Princess Celestia when she had been counting on her, but she was going to die here. She could not breathe with the talons squeezing her so hard and even if she could, the fall when the bird dropped her would kill her.

"Hey!" Twilight let out a sharp squeak as Fluttershy of all ponies flew up in the bird's face. She could not see what was going on, but she could hear that the normally placid and sweet pegasus was furious, "You do _not_ hurt my friends!"

The winged-beast hovered in place, its grip loosening slightly as it squawked at her furiously.

"No. You put her down right now!" Fluttershy snapped, her tone sharp and stern. Twilight could almost imagine her pointing at the ground with her hoof.

The bird shook its great head and yet its grip loosened again and Twilight found herself having to adjust herself so she did not slip between the claws and fall to her doom.

"Put. Her. Down." Fluttershy demanded again. The unicorn was stunned as the bird actually chirped, the tone sounding apologetic as it moved towards the rock below. Fluttershy descended with it, moving into Twilight's field of vision and look she was giving the creature explained its sudden obedience. Twilight herself would not want to disobey the pegasus if she was looking at her the way she was staring at the winged-beast.

It slowly and carefully released Twilight onto the ground and bowed its head apologetically before taking off, the down beat blowing everypony back as it took off into the sky. Twilight was surprised to see a rather frazzled looking Rarity and a slightly less bouncy than normal Pinkie Pie were there too.

"We…caught up…" Rarity panted at her, her normally well groomed and perfectly quaffed mane and tail in complete disarray. "Are…you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks to Fluttershy." Twilight looked over at the embarrassed looking pegasus who cantered over to her side, a sheepish smile on her face.

"I just didn't want him to eat you…" Flutershy practically whispered and scuffed the floor with her hoof.

"Well thank you." Twilight smiled brightly at her and got to see Fluttershy perk up a little. "We should keep going."

"Hold yer horses." Applejack put herself in the way and frowned at Twilight, "How come yer didn't change or cast a spell at that bird when we got grabbed?"

"I…" Twilight looked almost as embarrassed as Fluttershy as she admitted, "I don't know how and I didn't want to get you hurt."

"What do you mean you don't know how?" Dash demanded. "You're the one transforming…"

"I don't know." Twilight admitted, though she was frightened to do so, staring at her hooves rather than look at the others, "I'm not…I don't change because I want to, it just happens. I don't remember what happens when I'm an alicorn, it's like I'm not even me."

"You can't be serious, darling." Rarity stared at her as Twilight flinched.

"You're tellin' me you don' remember anythin' that happened with Nightmare Moon? Or what happened with tha' pegasus pony?" Applejack asked, confused.

Twilight shook her head, still not daring to look up at the others. "It's the puzzle. It changes me. It must do because I've never learned anything that could do it and I didn't even think it was possible before you told me I'd done it. I have no idea what I did while I wasn't me and it scares me. I don't want to hurt any of you…"

"Tha's jus' foalish." Applejack's scolding tone made Twilight look up in shock, "You ain' done anythin' tha would harm us and even if yer don' remember wha' yer did, it's still ya in there when yer in yer other form. If yer afraid o' changin' yer won' do it when we're facing Nightmare Moon. We're not scared of yer and you won' hurt us so do wha' yer need to."

"Applejack…" Twilight started, trailing off as she tried to work out how to respond to that.

"Trust us." Applejack huffed at her, "Yer not alone and we can handle yer Princess form." She paused and then looked embarrassed, "Not tha' I'm sorry yer didn' transform. Yer wings in yer other form are so badly damaged I dun think ya could fly anyway."

"They are?" Twilight was surprised as Rarity nudged her from behind, getting her moving again.

"Yeah," Dash nodded as she led the way, saving her strength for later, "Don't know why though." She commented as she reached a bridge.

"Ask me." Twilight suggested, "If I change again I mean. I don't know why my wings are like that when I'm…different." They reached the rickety wooden bridge across the gorge and Twilight stopped again.

She was not the only one. No one look particularly happy. Halfway across the bridge the fog thickened even further, to the point it practically formed a solid wall across their path.

"So…what do you think is across there?" Rarity asked nervously, pacing side to side as she stared across into the mist, trying to peer through it to the other side.

"Task four, probably." Twilight worried, knowing how tired her friends were and not really wanting to get into another fight so soon.

"I could fly across and check." Fluttershy offered. Twilight shook her head though.

"No, thank you. I think we should stick together. If we lose each other in this fog we could end up losing each other for good." The unicorn informed her as she took a shaky step onto the bridge. It wobbled badly and creaked underneath her hoof but it held her weight as she moved further forward. Applejack, who was sticking close to her after the bird scare, followed close behind.

"Be careful." Twilight told them as she put her right hoof forward only for it to go straight through the rotten plank in front of her. She nearly tumbled forward but managed to catch herself in time, her hoof going through a second plank with a horrible crack.

"I…I'd rather fly thanks." Fluttershy squeaked at the second crack and launched herself. Her actions made the bridge bounce up and down and made the others cry out in surprise. "S…sorry…" She stammered as she hovered above their heads.

"I…its okay, darling." Rarity was the first to reply, glad when the bridge settled itself down. "You just stay close, okay?"

Fluttershy did and they got across. Twilight did not see what it looked like when she stepped into the mist but it was incredibly disconcerting to not be able to see past the end of her foreleg. "Is everypony alright?"

"Ye…yes, darling." Rarity did not sound so sure though and neither did the others as they answered too. Twilight glanced back over her shoulder to try and see them but the dark, swirling fog was too thick.

"Stay together." Twilight ordered, though she was unaware that it came out as an order. "Try and grab the tail of the pony in front of you and don't let go." She felt somepony grab her tail and stumbled slightly as they tugged gently. Before she could complain however, she heard Applejack yelp in pain and heard Pinkie call an apology back.

They made their way through for a while, just heading straight on the baring that Rainbow Dash had put them on when she had been guiding the expedition. Before too long Fluttershy's voice softly echoed down the line, "Umm, please stop pulling on my tail."

"I don't have your tail." Rainbow Dash responded, having to drop whoever's tail she was holding to do so. "I have…had Pinkie's…oops." Twilight wanted to bang her head against a wall as they came to a halt and the others responded to Fluttershy too.

There was a worrying moment of silence when they all confirmed that no one had the pale yellow filly's tail and then Applejack asked, "If none of us have Fluttershy's tail, then what…" 

Fluttershy screamed, cutting Applejack off and making the others call out, worried. Twilight cast her beacon spell to try and light up the area and make it easier to see. It gave the ponies just enough light to be able to see each other, but it also cast a huge, winged shadow that was a terrifyingly familiar.

"Dr…dra…dragon!" Rarity squealed, backing up slowly as she beheld the giant shape. The creature in question let out a furious bellow and snapped its giant black head in their direction, its glowing red eyes blazing like fire as Fluttershy rushed out of the darkness surrounding them, limping slightly. Twilight shielded her with her own body before drawing from her deck, ready to fight the creature.

The dragon loosed a vicious roar and spat fire at the group of ponies. They only avoided being singed by the Negate Attack that the unicorn called up. "I don't think we can reason with this one." Applejack sounded nervous as they looked at the beast.

"You stole my jewels and my gold!" The dragon snarled at them. The creature's black scales shimmered like obsidian in the fading flare and its eyes narrowed as it beheld the puzzle hanging from the ribbon around Twilight's neck. "Give it back!"

Twilight yelped and shoved Fluttershy out of the way as the dragon's tail whipped around, striking the unicorn and sending her crashing into a nearby pile of rocks.

The others did not get a chance to react as the dragon took flight, its great wings causing a downdraft that disturbed the fog, giving them a clear view of where they were.

The castle was so close. They could see it only five minutes away from their position in the direction they had been going. However the dragon landed in their way, cutting them off from taking refuge. The safely roofed castle might as well have been another six hours away for all the good it would do if they could not shift the dragon.

Rainbow Dash took off, ready to launch herself at it, no matter how injured she already was, only for a blur of black and purple to swoop in and strike the humongous black head. It wheeled in the air, recovering from the collision, revealing itself to be Nightingale as the dragon roared in pain and thrashed about.

"I'll hold it off." Nightingale informed them, feeling like she owed them for allowing her to walk away and hating owing anypony anything. "You find its jewels."

"I have a better idea." Rarity called up, pulling a rather beautiful ruby out of her mane and gazing at it. The dragon sniffed the air and turned to look at her, glaring at the white unicorn who held it in midair with her magic. "I found it when we were trying to catch up to the others." She told the dragon as Twilight picked herself up unsteadily, "There wasn't anything else there, but if you want this, you can have it."

"I want my horde," The dragon snarled at her, "But that is a good start." It snatched the gem from her with its claw and seemed to examine it carefully, "This is different from the gems of my horde…brighter…" It hissed as it tilted it back and forth in the flare light. Twilight sent up a second one which brightened the area again as Rarity tried something.

"We can help you find your horde." She offered, "But we need to lift the fog first. If you let us get to the castle, we'll get rid of it and come back, promise. Right, everypony?"

The dragon did not look like it believed them as they agreed, but Rarity had another card to play and she sighed, "I also have a chest full of jewels back in Ponyville you can have that I was going to make jewellery out of."

"Give it to me." The dragon snapped, bringing its huge head down to the unicorn's level and staring her in the face.

"I can't." Rarity shook her head, "Not until the fog is gone and the barrier stopping us from leaving the forest is gone."

The dragon considered her words and then nodded and stood up properly. "Fine, go, but I want my jewels after."

"Of course darling." Rarity agreed, "Though I'm surprised you need any more with those glorious obsidian scales of yours and those gorgeous ruby red eyes." The dragon preened, let out a rumble that was the draconic equivalent of a laugh and stepped aside, nudging the white unicorn with its huge head as she passed. Rarity let out a startled sound as she had to sidestep due to the nudge, but she gave the dragon a smile and carried on past it, causing the others to follow.

Nightingale hung back though. "Uhh, you guys go ahead. If she sees me she'll..." The pegasus pony, who had removed her mask to reveal a blue filly with a dark blue mane and who looked about their age, was clearly nervous as the others turned to look at her.

"It's alright." Fluttershy reassured her, smiling at the nervous mare who was hovering above them, "You don't have to come."

"Sorry..." Nightingale apologised, looking sheepish as she glanced at the castle again and shuddered, "She'll be in the throne room waiting for you. That's where she was when she called us up to...well...sorry for that too." She apologised to Dash who shrugged in response, still not quite sure how she felt about the pegasus who had tried to drown her.

"Any other advice?" Twilight asked, kind of hoping their former adversary knew where the Elements were hiding.

"Afraid not. If I thought I knew a trick to beat her, I wouldn't be hanging back. Good luck though." She nodded to them before vanishing into the sky, leaving them with the dragon and a short walk up to their final destination.


	14. Alone

The castle, now they could take a proper look at it, was majestic but terrifying. It looked old and weathered, with black stone forming the crumbling walls. It was weather beaten and its tall spires clearly had holes in, revealing some of the rooms within. The roof had completely collapsed in places and some of the wall had gone with it, leaving the building looking like a skeletal version of its former glory. The only part of it still completely standing was the entranceway and it led into a shadowed hallway. The mist seemed to be pouring out and over the steps only adding to the eerie feeling.

Twilight was not the only one that felt like they were being watched as she stepped into the building. Nor was she the only one who was startled to find that the moment they entered the castle, they stepped into an entirely different and rather creepy world.

The collapsed roofs vanished away to become solid constructs that Twilight could feel were mad of Shadows rather than real wood and stone. The rubble disappeared to be replaced by tapestries and huge statues. The feeling only intensified as they headed for where they hoped the courtyard was, trying to find the Elements before they even thought about confronting Nightmare Moon.

The mist continued to spread across the floor as they walked through the dark and dingy hallways, the Shadows casting an illusion of the palace as it had been in its heyday. The torches however, were not lit, forcing Twilight and Rarity to summon their lights in order to let them see their surroundings.

Twilight could see similarities between the castle in Canterlot and the way that this palace was laid out as they made their way through the twisted corridors and darkened halls. Other than the fact that the brickwork in Canterlot Castle was a pure white, with gold décor and the halls were brightly lit while the castle they were walking through was only lit by their magic, the bricks were a dark purple that was almost black and the edgings and statues were decorated in an ornate silver scroll work that reminded Twilight of a combination of something she had seen in one of her more ancient spellbooks, specifically one written by Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest unicorn mage who had ever lived and her texts on Ancient Equigypt that she had been studying in the vain hope that it would make putting the puzzle together easier.

' _It's almost as if Princess Luna was trying to break away from the darkness.'_ She thought as they carefully edged their way through, well aware that there was another test to go before they could escape Nightmare Moon's challenge and, hopefully, find Princess Celestia.

"I do hope we find the Elements soon, darlings." Rarity said, her voice sounding tired as she helped Twilight lead the way, "I have a splitting headache."

"Me too." Fluttershy admitted, her wings dropping slightly, "And I don't feel well."

Twilight blinked and considered her friends properly as the others admitted that they felt ill. She was fine. She did not know how, but despite the injuries she should have had, despite the rapid fire spellcasting, she did not feel tired at all. She did not have a headache, nor were her limbs sore and heavy. What worried her the most was that her friends all felt like their hearts were going to pound out of their chests while she felt perfectly okay.

She reached out with a simple sensor spell that would let her read the magic in the area, only to get the answer why. There was a bubble of the puzzle's magic surrounding her, shielding her from the negative effects of the darkness swarming the illusionary castle. The others had no such shield and the thick, heavy magic in the area was draining them badly.

Twilight tried to extend her shield to protect them too, only to find that it would not go much further than a few inches from her.

"You lot need to leave now." Twilight told them, turning around to face them, concern obvious in her tone and determination clear on her features. "It's the Shadows. They're draining you, it'll only get worse the longer you're here."

"What about you? Won't they hurt you too?" Rarity asked, worried for her.

"No, my puzzle shields me. I'm the only one who can travel through them safely." Twilight shook her head, "Why don't you go help that dragon find his horde? I'll be okay."

"But yer need our help." Applejack protested.

"I'll be okay." Twilight promised, smiling around at them. "Trust me. I'll be okay."

"I don't like it." Rainbow Dash grumbled, "What if it's a trap? She could be waiting for us to split up."

"Then I guess I have to spring it but I can't let you lot go any further." Twilight told them, putting up a shield between her and her friends, using her magic to push them back, "You're the best friends I've ever had, but I can't let you come with me. Please, wait outside for me. I'll be with you soon."

"But Twilight…" The unicorn turned and ran as her magic shoved her friends outside the stone archway and away from the illusionary castle. She hated that she had had to do that and if they could not forgive her for sending them away, she understood, but she was the only one who could transverse the maze of dark corridors and dangerous magic.

It did not take her long to find the courtyard, not when she had been so right about the way the castle here was a mirror image of the one in Canterlot. She stepped out of a darkened corridor and into the moonlight courtyard. The silvery light sparkled off of the statue in the middle, showing every detail of the odd treelike structure that took up the majority of the room. Within the branches of the silver tree rested five marble spheres. Each of them were carved with intricate details and had the shape of a gem predominant in their designs.

Twilight recognised each of them from the guide that Pinkie Pie had dug out for her. Each one was the same brown-white marble that on its own was very pretty, but if the gems carved deeply into each of the spheres were their actual shape and colour, Twilight could just image that they would shine brightly with the power locked deep within.

"Finally." Twilight breathed, approaching the tree slowly and cautiously, still worried about that fifth task that she had yet to complete. She started to use her magic to lift down the orbs within the tree, trying to make sure she did not drop them, only to hear a dark, vicious sounding chuckle.


	15. One Shall Fall

"Only you made it this far?" Twilight froze at the sound of Nightmare Moon's voice. She turned to look at the speaker, but the alicorn was faster, whirling Twilight around as she swooped past her and got between the unicorn and the tree. "How…disappointing…" She spread her wings, forming an imposing barrier as she frowned at the unicorn before her. "I was hoping to have a little fun before I destroyed you."

"What about the fifth task?" Twilight asked, backing up slightly, "You said five!"

"Foal." Nightmare Moon sniggered, her voice echoing oddly, as if it was not only one pony speaking, "I _**am**_ the final task!"

Suddenly Twilight was both very glad that she had not brought the others in with her and wished that she had some backup. "Oh…" She managed, wondering how in Celestia's name she was going to win this fight.

"What's the matter, little Princess?" The alicorn sneered at her, "Afraid?"

"No. I'll never be afraid of you!" Twilight shook her head, standing tall and proud, staring the possessed Goddess in the eyes, refusing to tremble or bow before her. If she was going to fail here, it would not be in a manner that made Celestia ashamed of her. Not if she had any say in the matter, "And why do you keep calling me Princess?"

"You don't remember." It was a statement rather than a question and it seemed to amuse the Alicorn of the Moon far too much for Twilight to be comfortable. "You really don't remember."

"Remember what?" Twilight demanded, Nightmare Moon's amusement frustrating her.

"You were not always so weak, little Princess." The darkness around her seemed to whisper in her ears as Nightmare Moon watched her with a smug smirk, "We knew you before, five thousand years ago. When you thought you could seal us away for all eternity…" Twilight let out a startled yelp and dropped the Elements, causing them to crash to the ground as the unicorn was picked up by the Goddess's magic and tossed across the courtyard, slamming into the doorframe she had come through. "Well guess what. Eternity doesn't last forever."

"I…I sealed you?" Twilight asked, shaking slightly as she picked herself up, pain shooting down her back as she moved, "But I'm not an alicorn, I couldn't…" She trailed off, her eyes widening as a thought hit her.

"Now you're beginning to understand, little Princess." The darkness hissed at her, "You're not an alicorn now, but you were and we thought you destroyed when you ripped your soul in two and gave your life to try and get rid of us. Turns out you're as hard to eliminate as we are. Shame that won't save you now."

Twilight did not get a chance to respond before she was in the air again, tumbling across the ground and slamming into the base of the silver tree.

"You must have sealed your alicorn powers away with half of your soul when you locked us away. Left yourself with little more than a unicorn's form and strength." The darkness cackled, "But we had an ace in the hole, a Princess of our own, a mare from the lands that spawned us and she has worked tirelessly for all this time to free us. It's a shame you won't be around to meet her. She has a lot she wants to say to you."

"Wh…who says, it ends here?" Twilight demanded as she got up, the puzzle glowing, its golden glow pulsing in time with Twilight's normal purple magic which was wrapped around the Elements of Harmony, trying to activate them, even as she stumbled, barely able to get to her feet, "I might only be a…part time Princess, but I am not…letting it end here."

"You do not know who you are dealing with," Nightmare Moon snorted. "You may be my sister's student, but I am the stronger sister and I will destroy you!" Nightmare Moon tried to use her magic again, but Twilight was ready, calling up a small brown fuzzball from her deck with green hands and feet and sharp claws that leapt at the possessed Princess and exploded on contact.

The explosion pushed Nightmare Moon back, giving Twilight a chance to push a little more of her magic into the Elements, desperately hoping that that was the spark she needed and that she could use them to protect her friends. It certainly did something as the unicorn saw the marble spheres start to change colour, taking on the shades that she had seen in the book.

"No!" The Shadows and the Princess both screamed as the Elements started glowing, "No! We will not allow this to be!"

"Wha…aah!" Twilight cried out as hooves connected with her side and she went skidding across the floor, her magic cutting out as the dark possessed Princess used her powers to slam the unicorn into a wall so hard that the real brick work, the crumbling, decrepit, ancient brickwork, cracked and tumbled down, burying the filly.

"Finally!" Nightmare Moon snarled as she stalked towards the glowing elements, pausing before she stamped her hoof and unleashed a wave of Shadows that sucked up every drop of energy within the glowing spheres. The five orbs started cracking as something behind Nightmare Moon started moving.

The alicorn turned to stare at the sound when she realised that it was the sound of the rubble shifting and falling, her eyes widening when she saw Twilight pick herself out of the fallen bits out castle, her wings twitching a little to dislodge the fragments of stone and her ruby red eyes narrowed and focused on Nightmare Moon. Her own Shadows were flaring up like black flames around her as she moved out of the pile of black rubbish and stood in front of the possessed alicorn. "Do not write me off yet." She growled out before shaking herself off, getting rid of some of the dust lightening her coat to an almost lavender-white.

The stone spheres continued to crack as Nightmare Moon laughed, a high pitched, slightly hysterical, psychotic laugh as the Elements shattered into a million little fragments, "You could not defeat us before, when you were whole! You'll never do it now, wounded and pathetic as you are. Especially not alone! Your strength comes from Unity, it always has! And now your backup, your precious Elements of Harmony are gone, destroyed, forever!"

"The spheres may be gone, but my friends are always with me," Twilight snapped back, her wings half opening as she tried to spread them in a display of dominance, "I will defeat you!"

"You? Defeat me?!" The alicorn laughed, her shadow taking the form of a twisted dragonic creature and spreading up the wall. Its shape shifting and changing as it grew, revealing wings with holes in and three rows of sharp teeth, "I have had many forms over the Millennia," The darkness crowed through Nightmare Moon as the shadow changed again, becoming a huge unicorn with a barbed horn. "Equigypt, your country, was just the first. This time, this time your entire world will pay and there's nothing you can do to stop me! Because poor Princess Twilight was stupid enough to come all this way without managing to protect a single one of her friends!"

"You're wrong." The alicorn Princess smirked, "My friends are safe. I figured out your game and protected myself from your dark mist. You can't fight fair, you have to weaken us before we get to you, but guess what? I remember enough to remember that a Challenge always has to be fair. You might have weakened me, weakened my friends and destroyed the physical forms of the Elements, but I still have a chance."

"What chance could you possibly have?" Nightmare Moon demanded, "What possible hope? You are nothing compared to me, nothing!"

"Twilight!" The purple Princess's smirk turned to an honest, bright smile as her friends piled into the courtyard and stopped by the entrance, staring at the tableau before them. They looked tired and ill still but they still stood there, glaring at Nightmare Moon or giving her a relieved look, as if they had been worried about her.

"There's my hope, my chance. My friends." Twilight told the Night Goddess, feeling her strength grow and her magic increase exponentially as the puzzle reacted to their presence, "They're my strength and they're so much more than that. Those Elements you destroyed? They're just stone, Harmony is within everypony if you know where to look for it and I've found it within those five ponies that you see before you."

"You cannot be serious? You honestly believe that you can defeat me with the power of friendship?" The alicorn cackled.

"There's not just my friends, each of them embodies an Element." Twilight informed her, "Pinkie Pie, who scared off the wolves that you sent after us by giggling at them, embodies the Element of Laughter!" As she spoke, the shards of the sphere of Laughter started glowing the same pink as Pinkie Pie's coat and started swirling around her like glitter, shimmering in the moonlight.

"Oooh, pretty!" Pinkie Pie bounced on the spot, looking delighted.

"Wh…what?!" Nightmare Moon yelped, backing up in her confusion as she watched it happen.

"Rainbow Dash, who fought your summoned pegasi even when it could have cost her her life and refused to join up with them even when they flattered her, represents the Element of Loyalty!" The second sphere did the same, this time glowing with the same pale blue as Rainbow's coat.

"Too cool!" Dash crowed.

"Oh no, no, no!" Nightmare Moon snarled, trying to blast the five by the door with a spell, only for Twilight to draw from her deck and set a trap that caused her attack to reflect back off of it and strike the alicorn, making her crash into the silver tree in the courtyard's centre.

"Fluttershy," Twilight continued as the possessed alicorn picked herself up, a look of vague panic on her features as she realised that she was in deep trouble, "Who protected Nightingale from me and helped her even after she fought against us, represents the Element of Kindness!"

"I was just doing what any pony would have done." Fluttershy whispered as the shards of the corresponding element glowed a pale yellow colour and circled her.

"Applejack, who waylaid my fears about my transformation by telling me the truth, embodies the Element of Honesty!" The part-time Princess informed the possessed one, smirking as her theory was confirmed. The Element of Honesty swirled around Applejack like amber, glowing like a flame.

"You can't do this, you can't drive me back into the dark, I will not allow it!" Nightmare Moon snarled, launching herself at Twilight. The alicorn narrowly dodged, causing the Moon Goddess to go crashing to the floor behind her.

"And last but not least, Rarity, who tamed the dragon by selflessly offering her jewels, making her own work difficult in the process and promising to help him find his horde again, is the Element of Generosity!"

The last Element lit up and joined those already swirling around Twilight's other friends. "I wonder if I could make something that shimmered like this for ponies to wear…" Rarity mused as she beheld the pretty lights.

Twilight could not help the amused smile that crossed her face at the other unicorn's comment even as Nightmare Moon snarled at her, "You still haven't gotten the sixth Element and without your precious true name, the final key to the seal you used on me, you'll never unlock your full potential and destroy me!"

"You're wrong," Twilight informed her, feeling smug that she knew something that the other Princess did not and trying to ignore the jab about her name, "The spark I felt when I realised that no matter how hard I try to push you away, you'll always be my friends?" She asked her friends, looking at them with a smile, "That's when I realised something. The final spark resides within the heart of all of us, and that spark is Magic!"

She let out a startled gasp as power erupted from the tree in the middle of the courtyard and formed a star like the one in the centre of her cutie mark in the middle of the air.

"This cannot be allowed!" Nightmare Moon protested, launching a wave of Shadows at Twilight and her friends, only for the dark magic to hit the spinning fragments of glittering gems and wash aside, protecting the group by the door.

The purple alicorn barely managed to raise a shield in time to ensure her own safety. For a few moments she strained against the tidal wave of Shadows then the star floating over the tree shattered into tiny shards and dove down. They wrapped around the Princess, glowing with an odd purple that was somewhere between the two shades of Twilight's coat and their brilliance drove the surge of magic back.

The light only continued to grow, each set of glittering shards erupting in a blaze of glory that cocooned the pony they had been circling. Nightmare Moon could do nothing but watch in stunned horror as the Elemental gems and the ponies who represented them joined forces. The glow surrounding the five by the door shrank in until it was only around their necks. The Elements flashed brightly before dying out completely to reveal golden necklaces with a gem that looked like their cutie mark resting in the centre, but in the colours of the Elements.

Meanwhile the Element of Magic coated Twilight in a layer of magic which seemed to sink into not only her, but her puzzle too, filling the cracks with a purple glow. The final piece, the one that had been shaped like her cutie mark, started pulsing with the same purple as the Element.

"You won't win." Twilight informed the slightly panicking Shadow possessed Princess as she stared her down, able to feel the power surrounding them as a golden crown formed on her brown. It looked less like the crowns of Equestria and more like a diadum with Equigyptian patterns etched into the golden metal, though an amethyst purple star featured in the centre at the front of it. "I might not be able to destroy you, but I can save Princess Luna from you and bring back the Sun."

"We'll be back, we'll always be back," The Shadows spat at her, the odd echo in the possessed alicorn's voice distorting in their anger, "We will break free from your final lock and when we do, we will destroy you and everything you hold dear."

"You'll have to get through us first, right girls?" Rarity asked, not quite sure what was going on but understanding that Twilight would need their backup.

"That's right." Rainbow Dash agreed, flaring her wings, standing tall and proud and refusing to back down here anymore than had against the trio of pegasi.

"We'll be there to stop yer before you can even get to 'er!" Applejack nodded, stamping her hoof and glaring at the tainted Goddess. "Yer won't even get into Ponyville."

"Yeah! No meanies allowed!" Pinkie agreed with a bright laugh despite the seriousness of the situation.

"We'll all do our best to stop you." Fluttershy agreed, her voice soft but determined as she watched Twilight's magic glow even brighter as they confirmed their friendship and unity with each other.

"See?" Twilight asked, her wings half extended as she stepped towards the alicorn, "You can't win, because I am never alone, I have my friends. Now, get out of Princess Luna and bring back Princess Celestia!"

"No." The Shadows hissed, launching a fresh wave of darkness that did nothing against the protection of the Elements, but gave them a chance to get their stolen form airborne, "No, we won't, your precious Sun Goddess can rot, souless in her cell for…" They cut off, choking slightly and losing a couple of foot as, for a moment the blue coat that was so dark it was almost black, flickered to a slightly lighter midnight blue and her narrow, almost catlike green eyes widened to a more normal shape for a few moments before the darkness regained control.

It gave the ground bound Princess below a chance to cast a spell that trapped the almost-black alicorn in a magical circle that stopped her from going anywhere.

"I don't think your host likes that idea." Twilight smirked, pleased to see there was some sign of Princess Luna still being within the dark creature before them and still fighting. "Last chance."

"Never." Nightmare Moon spat. "I will never leave!"

"Yes, you will." The part-time Princess told her, the Elements reacting to her desire and the desire of her friends to free Princess Luna and bring back the sun. The gems of all six Elements glowed brightly from within their settings, along with an aura that surrounded each of the ponies, while the golden glow of the puzzle mixed with the purple of the Element of Magic. Then all seven sources of power sent bright lights rocketing skywards where they twisted and joined together, swirling around and around at high speeds as they plummeted down again, forming a rainbow of colour and power as they struck the possessed Princess who screamed in pain as the power drove the dark intelligence out of her.


	16. Daybreak

The power flooded out, in a wave of rainbow light that did not just erase the darkness from every last corner of the ruined castle, wash away the illusion that Nightmare Moon had cast to make the place seem whole again and return the soul of the prisoner down in the cells below, but spread out through the forest, breaking down the Challenge that had silenced the entire forest and cut it off from the outside world before continuing out into Ponyville and consuming the mist that had spread out from the forest, finally dying out as it reached the edge of the corruption.

Not that fillies were aware of any of that, the flare within the castle had overwhelmed them, leaving them flash blinded and sprawled on the ground. Applejack was the first to awaken and she gazed around blearily, trying to work out why her head felt like it had exploded and why the others were unconscious on the ground.

"Fluttershy?" She asked, nudging the nearest pony to her and becoming relieved when the pale yellow Pegasus filly stirred and opened her eyes, shaking her head slightly to shift her mane so she could see their surroundings properly.

"Wh…what happened?" Fluttershy asked as the others started coming around. "And…oh wow…look at your necklace! It's lovely!" She gestured to the golden collar which had an amber apple with emerald leaves embedded amongst the swirling pattern engraved in the shining gold.

"Yours is too." Rarity informed her, her hoof going from her own amethyst diamond to the rose quartz butterfly with its golden setting that rested around Fluttershy's neck.

"Look at mine, look at mine!" Pinkie Pie was the first to get to her feet and she bounced around the courtyard, moving over to Twilight's side, allowing the pony, who had reverted to her unicorn form when she had passed out, to see the pale blue topaz balloon on her collar.

"I don't do jewellery." Rainbow Dash commented as she found a reflective surface and looked at the ruby lightning bolt within her necklace, "But I think I can make an exception for something as cool as this."

"Twilight's is the prettiest." Pinkie said bluntly, gesturing to the diadum, which, with its odd patterns and pink garnet star, looked unique.

"What happened to the Princess?" Twilight asked, looking for the alicorn, unaware of what had happened while she had been transformed. The Princess who had been struck directly by the rainbow of power, was led at the foot of the tree. Free of the darkness, which seemed to have been burned away by the bright light of Harmony, Luna looked about the same age as them. Her coat was a gorgeous midnight blue and her mane and tail was much shorter, though they still looked like the night sky. The purple unicorn could finally get a good view of the Princess's cutie mark as she carefully approached, the almost black splodge on her rear had a silver crescent moon on it.

It was a good symbol for the Moon Goddess, Twilight decided as she lowered herself at Luna's side and gently nudged her with her muzzle. "Excuse me, Princess Luna?"

The Alicorn blearily opened her eyes, seeming dazed and confused as she blinked around at the ponies who were slowly gathering around her. They came to a stop on Twilight and a small frown graced her features, "You were an Alicorn..." She shook her head as if trying to clear her head, "Are you all, alright?"

"I do that," Twilight told her softly, a smile on her features as she nodded and supported the exhausted looking Princess as she got to her feet, noting that her mane was fading to an odd pale shade of cloudy grey and blue. "I should ask the same of you, you're not hurt are you?"

"No, but I need to get down to the dungeons." Luna staggered and leaned into Twilight as her hooves scuffed the floor.

"Easy, easy." Fluttershy murmured as she got on the alicorn's other side, "You were a lot bigger a few minutes ago, you just need to adjust. Let us help."

"I…" For a moment the ponies were worried that Princess Luna would not let them as she held herself proud and tall, proving herself just a little taller than them all. Then her shoulders sank and her gaze turned towards the ground. "It would be for the best, thank you. My sister…It has been many years since I have seen her like this and I do not…" She trailed off, looking worried. "She will hate me for all I did…"

"I've known Princess Celestia since I was a filly." Twilight told her quietly, making the others lean in a little to hear, wanting to hear more about their new friend, "She took me on as her private student when I lost control of my magic and hatched a baby dragon's egg. In the time I've studied under her, I've heard story after story about you, how you two worked and played together. About all those…I guess I have to call them pranks that you both played on the nobles… she misses you. I can tell."

"How can she?" Luna demanded, staring at her with wide, slightly wild eyes, "How could she ever forgive me for what I have done?"

"It wasn't you, darling." Rarity built up the courage to reassure her, looking a little nervous though it was hard to tell if it was because Luna had been a raving lunatic just a few minutes ago or whether it was because the Princess was, after all, a Princess and deserved some respect. "It was that beastly Shadow thing we drove out of you."

"Tha's right," Applejack agreed, "Yer sister's gonna know that, jus' like we do. I bet she can' wait to see yer again."

"And we'll be there, so it won't be so scary." Fluttershy offered, giving her a shy smile as she spoke, "Things are always less scary in a group."

"And I can always make her laugh if she's too mad. Though I need to reload the party cannon…" Pinkie Pie's comments did not entirely help. In fact the mention of a 'party cannon' made Princess Luna stare at her in confusion, still she started forward, guiding the others down to the dungeons.

Without the Shadows embedded in every nook and cranny the castle did not seem as foreboding. The black stone was actually a marbled grey that actually looked rather pretty in the shimmering moonlight and the silver detailing looked a lot less menacing with nothing casting horrid and terrifying shadows up the walls.

Luna's head sank further and further as they went and it took Twilight a moment to realise what was wrong. When she did she felt like she could kick herself. All those stories she had been told had taken place here. This palace had been her home. She had lived and played here. The last time Princess Luna had walked these halls, the castle had been whole and glorious and she had ruled alongside her sister.

The time she had spent on the moon had ravaged the palace, aging the stone and allowing the Everfree Forest to take it over. Now she could see clearly, the crumbling brickwork had plants growing up it and in several places she could see where animals had made their homes amongst the rubble.

It was a worrying reminder that poor Princess Luna would have a thousand years of Equestrian history to catch up on. She would have to adjust to a country that had changed drastically in her absence and find her new place in the system.

Twilight turned to look at the alicorn at her side, letting out a sigh when she saw that she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. "Princess Luna?" She asked gently.

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle?" Luna did not look up, but she sounded relieved about something, probably for being dragged out of the mire that her thoughts had become.

"If you need any help…adjusting." The unicorn hesitated to offer but she remembered what Celestia had told her about Luna often feeling lonely and that she had fallen to the Shadows because she had felt alone. She knew that problem. Until she had met the others, she had felt like she did not really have any friends except for Spike. "You know, to the modern era, I'd like to help."

Luna's head shot up and she watched her for a couple of seconds, pausing to consider her properly, "If you're offering for my sister's sake I don't…"

"No!" Twilight shook her head rapidly, backing up slightly and bumping into Pinkie Pie, "No, I just…I'm different, I don't fit in easily. So I know what it's like to need someone you can just spend time with at the end of a difficult day. If you want to just talk, or just need somewhere to escape from the pressures of your day…night job…"

Luna looked honestly surprised, then she smiled, a bright smile that lit up her features and chased away some of the worries that Twilight had had. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. I will think on it." She looked around, "I think it's this way."

She headed down the nearest stairs and led them down a set of partially eroded stairs into a dark, dank corridor that was lit by the occasional hole in the ceiling that let light through. They navigated the rubble carefully as they headed past what had clearly once been a guard post and along a row of cells that whose bars were partially rusted or worse.

Twilight was relieved to see a light coming from one of the cells, the glow from within cast the shadows of the bars across the corridor and she darted up the corridor to find her teacher led on the floor, looking exhusted, her horn glowing with a bright golden light, allowing the unicorn and the alicorn to see each other clearly.

"Twilight! You're safe." Celestia breathed, her entire body relaxing as she stared at her student, "You need to be careful, Nightmare Moon…why are you smiling like that?"

"Princess Celestia." Twilight bowed and backed up slightly as Applejack pushed Luna forward, "May I reintroduce Princess Luna."

"Umm, hello my sister…" Luna looked nervous as she unlocked the cell door, "It's been a long time."

"It has." Celestia towered over her sister as she got to her feet, making every pony there nervous as she gazed down at her sister, "I…Luna, my dear sister…" Luna's back straightened and she looked hopeful at those words, "Can you ever forgive me?"

"F…forgive you?" Luna's voice shook as she spoke, staring at the older alicorn in shock, "I am the one who needs to be forgiven."

"No, my sister. I am the one who should be begging for your mercy. If it was not for my actions, you would not have fallen to the Shadows. I failed you when I let you go, when I had to send you away and again when I could not free you like I had promised. My student, Twilight Sparkle, proved to be stronger than I in more than one way." She nodded to the purple unicorn who looked stunned at the admission, "Luna," She turned back to her sister, "I would like nothing more than for you to rejoin me and rule at my side once again, as sisters," She hesitated, "And as friends."

"R…really?" The honest, open joy and hope in her tone kind of made the young fillies listening in feel like they were intruding.

"Really, I promise." Before Celestia had finished talking Luna had pressed herself against the white alicorn and burst into tears.

"I've missed… you so much." Luna sobbed, "It's been…so dark…and cold…"

"It's okay, you're okay now." Celestia reassured her as the other ponies backed up, giving them some room. Through the holes in the ceiling they could see the night time turning into the day and before too long, bright sunlight was pouring through, decimating the last of the creepy feeling brought on by the shadowy cells.

Above them they could hear the sounds of hooves pounding on the ground, confusing the ponies until Twilight heard someone calling, "Twilight?! Twilight Sparkle! Twily!"

"Shiny?" Twilight breathed, the biggest smile her new friends had ever seen from her gracing her features as she bolted for the exit, "Shining Armour!"

"Who's Shining Armour again?" She heard Rarity asking as her friends followed her up. She did not pause to answer them, instead bolting towards the source of the noise, only to find her brother was there with a group of guards and Spike on his back. Not that the baby dragon was there very long. The moment he saw her he scrambled off of the unicorn stallion's back and crashed into Twilight, leaping at her and hugging her tightly.

"Twily!" Her brother rushed over before Spike could say anything and the bright smile on his features when he saw she was safe and sound was all she needed to press herself against him and rest her head on his shoulder. The stallion nuzzled her in reply, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I'm sorry for worrying you." Twilight responded, leaning against him. "But I had to…" She felt her brother stiffen and stand to attention and pulled away, turning to see what he was looking at. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had emerged from the stairwell and every guard there looked torn between saluting and trying to arrest the smaller of the two Princesses.

"It's alright everypony." Celestia informed them, her regal ponya pushing through the exhaustion that was so clear in her stance and posture. "My sister is back, properly. You don't have to fear, she's herself again. Thanks to Twilight Sparkle."

Shining Armour glanced at his sister, shocked, finally noting the fact she was wearing a completed puzzle and a golden diadem, the gem in which glinted with a purple light that was very similar to the purple glow weaving through the cracks between pieces of the puzzle.

"Twily…" Her brother breathed, "What…happened? Some pony told me you'd turned into an alicorn."

"We can talk about it later," Celestia chuckled, heading for the chariots, "There's something that we really should do first. After all, a certain set of ponies worked very hard to set up a lovely party for me and it would be a shame to waste all that effort."

Twilight grinned and led her brother over to the same chariot as her group of surprised but delighted friends. He hesitated, not quite sure how to approach the group of ponies. "Umm, Twily, I don't know your friends."

"It's alright, Shiny. They're nice." Twilight chuckled, feeling a little odd introducing her brother to her friends rather than the other way around. "They don't bite."

"I do." Pinkie Pie protested, bouncing around, "I bite cupcakes and cookies and candies and…"

"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack sounded exasperated but amused, "Tha's not what Twilight meant and you know it."

"Shiny, these are my friends, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy." Twilight pointed to each of them in turn, "Everypony, this is my brother, Shining Armour."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Rarity looked him over, curious, "Are you from Canterlot too?"

"Uhh, yes." He nodded, wondering why her eyes widened and she suddenly looked fascinated at that, "I'm the Captain of the Palace Guards."

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked as he herded them into the largest chariot, planning to get them back to Ponyville in it, "That's so cool!"

"I'll tell you more about it once we're back in Ponyville, promise." Shining Armour chuckled, gesturing for a couple of his strongest pegasi guards to take the reins as Spike scrambled onto Twilight's back, hugging her neck tightly. Twilight adjusted slightly so he could get comfortable, but Spike refused to move.

"Not going anywhere." He grumbled, "You were gone forever. I thought…"

"I'm sorry, Spike," Twilight apologised as they lifted off, "I didn't think…It took a little longer than I thought, can you forgive me?"

"Only if you promise not to leave me behind next time." The dragonet, who had not slept properly all night, grouched as he started falling asleep.

"Hopefully there won't be a next time." Fluttershy whispered, her voice barely carrying over the sound of the wind as they travelled at high speed over the top of the trees.

Twilight did not say anything in response to that. She kind of hoped that there would not be a next time too, but she was almost certain there would be. The Shadows had made it perfectly clear that there was some pony out there, some other Princess, who would not be happy to see her if they ever met. Twilight could almost guarantee that at some point that Princess would come calling. So yes, this would probably happen again.

She did not think that this was the time to tell her exhausted, tired and injured friends though. In fact it was possible that it would not matter for much longer if the Ponyville crew knew or not. She was going home tomorrow after all. Her shoulders sank as she thought about it. She was not really looking forward to it.

While Canterlot was her home and she missed it a little, she did not want to go back to school and have to deal with the bullies again. The only highlights of her time in Canterlot were the rare moments she got to hang out with her brother, or her classes with her mentor. The entire rest of her time in school was spent either putting up with snide comments from her classmates or living in the library. She had had more fun in Ponyville in a day than she had had in Canterlot in years.

And soon it would be over and as much as she loved studying under Princess Celestia, she did not think she could easily go back to being lonely and hated by her fellow classmates. It would be boring and she would go crazy. At least, she supposed, she could always send the others letters. It would not be the same, but it was better than nothing.

"Twilight?" Rarity asked as she watched the part-time Princess's head sink and rest against the edge of the chariot, "Are you alright, darling?"

"I'm…okay. I guess." Twilight replied, the events of the last day and a bit catching up to her as she felt the weariness sink into every fibre of her being.

"Yer don' sound okay." Applejack frowned, nudging her lightly.

"I..." Twilight turned to look at them, a small, sad smile on her face, "I'm going to miss you fillies."

"Awww, we'll miss you too, darling." Rarity hugged her, carefully so she did not awaken Spike, "But we'll come and visit, right?" She asked the others.

"Totally," Rainbow Dash nodded, lifting off and making the chariot judder slightly as she went, "I could get to Canterlot and back in a flash!"

"And the rest of us can get the train there, it's just a little trip." Fluttershy offered, with a nod, "I'm sure I can find some pony to look after my animals while I'm away."

"And when we get there I'll throw a big party!" Pinkie Pie giggled at her. "So you won't feel so blue."

"An' I'll bring some o' ma apple pies for you ter share with yer friends in Canterlot." Applejack promised, only to watch as Twilight's shoulders sank further, "What? What's wrong Twi?"

"I don't…you lot are the only friends I have, besides Spike and my brother…" Twilight admitted, though she was embarrassed to do so.

"Well that's no fun." Pinkie pouted as she sat down and thought about it.

"Then we'll just have to visit lots, darling." Rarity promised, crossing her heart as she did.

"It's just a shame you can't stay in Ponyville." Rainbow commented as Ponyville loomed on the horizon. "We're way cooler anyway. By about twenty percent."

"I don't know about that, Rainbow." Rarity partly scolded as they started coming in to land in the main square of the village, not far from the town hall. "Canterlot is very different from Ponyville, you really shouldn't compare them."

"If Twilight prefers here to there, then Ponyville's obviously better." Rainbow shrugged, unconcerned with Rarity's irritation. The white unicorn opened her mouth to retort but she did not get a chance to utter a word before they touched down with barely a bounce.


	17. Looking Back, Moving Forward

Ponyville was much quieter than it had been when they had left and there were guards posted on most corners, helping the citizens of the small town where they could. When the chariots touched down however, they drew the attention of everypony. The mayor was the first to approach as Twilight clambered down from the carriage and then helped the others down. She looked them over carefully, noting the jewellery that adorned each of them.

Then her attention was drawn to the carriage that came down behind them and her eyes widened when she saw who it was carrying. "P…Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon?"

"No." Twilight corrected as they landed, "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The two sisters reunited once more." The mayor nodded, still looking a little nervous as she canted over to the pair. Twilight could not help but wonder how long it would take poor Luna to live down her possessed form. She had a horrible feeling that it would take a very long time before she was allowed to forget what she had done. Even if she had not been in control for any of it.

The ponies of Ponyville emerged from their hiding places, as well as several members of the Apple family. A pair of young fillies, so young that they had not even gotten their cutie marks yet, rushed out of the crowd and hugged Rarity and Applejack.

One was a white unicorn who looked rather like Twilight would image a young Rarity would. Her mane and tail had a very similar curl to the mare who was probably her sister but were a combination of pale pink and lavender. The other was a yellow filly that Twilight recognised from the Apple family introductions. Though the earth pony was a similar pale yellow to Fluttershy with a reddish pink mane and tail, the former of whom was tied with a pink ribbon, her similar facial features and the accent the part-time Princess heard as the filly babbled at Applejack labelled her as Applebloom.

As the two older ponies reassured and hugged their younger sisters, Twilight approached her older brother, a little nervous as she watched him order his men to start withdrawing back to the palace in Canterlot. "Shiny?" She asked when he was not busy, "Will you stay? For the party, please?"

"Sure, Twily." The older stallion nodded, nuzzling her and smiling, "But you still need to tell me what happened. Were you really an alicorn?"

"I…temporarily." Twilight nodded, "I found out a lot today and I need to write it all down before I forget it, but apparently I was an alicorn a really long time ago but I sealed away some ancient power and accidently locked away my alicorn powers at the same. Now I'm just a unicorn."

"Just a unicorn?" Shining Armour sounded offended, though he had an odd expression on his features that meant Twilight was not sure if he was angry or not. "There's nothing wrong with being a unicorn."

"You know I didn't mean…I like being a unicorn!" Twilight told him, "That's not what I meant. I don't entirely understand this mess myself, yet. But I will and when I do, I'll share everything with you, I promise."

"You'd better, Twily." Shining Armour nodded as they watched Princess Luna receive a crown of daisies from some of the younger ponies in town. The part-time Princess was pleased to see a surprised but delighted smile light up the younger alicorn's features, helping the townsfolk around them relax.

"You know what this calls for?" Pinkie Pie asked, pulling the party cannon out of her hair and reloading it in less than a heartbeat. "A party!"

Twilight did not get a chance to warn her brother before Pinkie fired her cannon and she found herself smothered in his protective embrace as the explosion went off.

"Shiny! Shiny it's okay, it's just Pinkie Pie!" Twilight giggled at him, trying to push him away. "Her party cannon only shoots streams and confetti."

"Seriously?" Shining Armour looked sceptical as he let go of her and stared around at the aforementioned items scattered everywhere. "How…?"

"It's Pinkie Pie, I'm beginning to give up asking." Twilight admitted with a slight laugh. "Come try the food, it's gorgeous." Twilight kept an eye on the party, enjoying it from the edges. Swiftly as more and more of the townsfolk joined in, used to Pinkie Pie's impromptu parties, it became clear that the ponies were going to accept Princess Luna easily. Or at least it seemed that way. It was a load off of the purple unicorn's mind.

Twilight slipped away to the Golden Oak Library when her brother was distracted by the arrival of the Wonderbolts and as she reached the door of the great tree, she could hear the party become even livelier. She looked back the way that she had come to find that Rainbow Dash had been unable to resist joining the impressive flying squad in the skies.

"Sorry everypony." Twilight whispered as she slipped inside and put Spike to bed before she started packing up her things. She knew her brother and while he would let them rest for a little, if he had his way they would be headed back to Canterlot not long after sunrise tomorrow, if not at some point this afternoon. She fully planned on going back to enjoy the party for a little bit. After all she wanted to try and get permission to send everypony letters, but she did not want to end up rushing around at the last minute before they left and find out halfway home that she had forgotten something.

She was halfway done when the windows to the balcony opened with aid of a golden yellow light and Princess Celestia poked her head into the bedroom. "Twilight? May I come in?"

The unicorn in question jumped a mile, having been engrossed in making sure all the books she was packing were actually her own and not ones that had been pulled off of the library shelves in their desperate search for answers. She wheeled around and stared at the Princess, her mind blank for a moment or two before she nodded, "Y…Yes, of course."

The Princess stepped into the room cautiously, as if she wasn't certain that Twilight would really want her there, "You're packing already? Are you so keen to leave Ponyville?"

"No." Twilight sighed, "But I…" She trailed off, having never told the Princess about the bullying after the first few times and wondering how best to phrase it. Instead she changed the subject. "How's Luna?"

"She's much better, thanks to you. I left her with your friend, Pinkie Pie. She was saying something about Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Celestia smiled when Twilight chuckled. The unicorn could just imagine her friend doing that, "She told me what happened and that the Shadows spoke to you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I…" Twilight frowned slightly, "I don't know how much to believe and how much was them trying to demoralise me." She admitted as Celestia watched her pace back and forth. "You know then? About my other form?"

"I do, yes. I always knew you were something special, my dear student." The Princess nodded, watching the agitated unicorn who was still wearing her crown as she walked around and around. "Now you know it too."

"I don't know anything." Twilight objected, turning around to stare at her mentor, frustration clear, "Only what you told me in your letter and what the Shadows told me. How could I possibly have been an alicorn in the past when I'm not that old? I'm just…"

"Twilight, may I tell you a tale? It's one you've never heard before." The Princess asked in reply. "And it may help clear up a few things." When Twilight nodded, Celestia trotted over to the bed, got settled and invited her student to join her in getting comfortable. Once she had followed directions, Celestia cast a spell that coated the floor in a mirror like surface that started showing images.

"A long time ago, back around the time that Equestria was founded, Luna and I were travelling, trying to make alliances with other Kingdoms. We went to many different countries to find new friends and eventually we went to Saddle Arabia." Princess Celestia told her, the mirror surface flicking between images as she spoke, showing the Griffin Kingdoms, the Dragonlands and many more before finally settling on the sandy plains of Saddle Arabia.

"This was long before Luna first ran into the Shadows," Celestia reassured her, "But while we were there, I asked about the former royal family of Equigypt, hoping that someone survived that I could offer asylum to. After all at the time we had many enemies and I thought that…well, it does not matter what I thought because we were taught that there were none left and more importantly, Luna and I were taught why."

Twilight stared at Celestia for a moment, surprised, then she turned back to the mirrored surface, which was showing a unicorn dressed in Saddle Arabian silks, showing Celestia and Luna scrolls and artefacts.

The images continued to shift and change before her as they revealed a unicorn of pure white, surrounded by an insane inferno of Shadows, facing down a alicorn who looked a lot like her in shape and form and was wearing the puzzle, but whose wings were not damaged at all. Their surroundings were ruined, much like the Castle of the Two Sisters had been and when they could see through the gaps, they could see that the rest of the country was much the same way.

As the pictured warped, the Shadows around the unicorn became the demonic dragon like creature that had been revealed when Twilight had been fighting Nightmare Moon. Then there was a flash of magic from the alicorn and the demon and unicorn were sucked into something on the ground, while the alicorn's image ripped into two. An alicorn and a unicorn who looked exactly like her. The alicorn was sucked into the puzzle while the unicorn collapsed and a stallion rushed to her side and started sobbing.

"According to the legends, the Princess killed herself to save what was left of her ponies, but she ripped her soul in two when she did so. It was believed that she was gone forever. By her own ponies's traditions she had given up her rights to the afterlife and would either walk the path that some would call purgatory forever, or fade away to nothing. There was a chance, one slim chance that she might return one day, when the world needed her to face the darkness again and apparently," Celestia said, turning away from the images, which faded away, and looking at Twilight, "That was what happened and I got very lucky."

"Lucky?" Twilight asked, confused and still absorbing everything that Celestia had shown her, "What do you mean?"

"Luna heard what the Shadows said to you, she was aware for all of it. She just couldn't do anything about it and if they're Shadows are to be believed, I didn't just get a very impressive student when you came to my school that morning, but I found my Equigyptian Princess." Celestia sighed, "I thought I might have done when I saw you and saw your puzzle, but after Sunset Shimmer and my sister, I was so frightened that…"

"I understand." Twilight offered, daring to nuzzle her teacher gently, able to see that the alicorn was just as tired as she was, and surprised and pleased that Celestia reciprocated, nuzzling her back in much the same way the Princess had nudged Luna earlier, "If I had not had my friends, it's possible I would have fallen the same way." She admitted, "You were right to keep it from me until I was old enough to understand the power I held."

She felt the ruler of Equestria relax a little at that. "So you forgive me for keeping this from you for so long?"

"Of course." Twilight nodded, a thoughtful expression taking over as she mulled over things, "Though I have to ask…what happens now? Now I know the truth about my puzzle, my past and my role as the Guardian of Shadows?"

"What do you want to happen, my faithful student?" Celestia asked her frankly, "For that's the most important thing. Not what I want, or what you think is expected of you, but what you want for yourself."

"I…I promised Luna that I would be there for her. I want to keep that promise." Twilight told her, "But being lonely hurts. All the time, like there's a hole in my chest that nothing can fill…" She trailed off, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I shouldn't…"

"No, please, tell me." Celestia sounded pained, as if knowing that she had been failing Twilight much the same way that she had failed her sister physically hurt her, "I want to know."

"I…I've been so alone. The other unicorns in school don't like me, I'm too different." Twilight told her bluntly, unable to stop herself now the dam had opened, "And I've had fun here, I've made friends here and now…I don't want to give them up but I can't expect you to come here to teach me or Luna to want to fly all of this way to visit so…I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Sometime the hardest part about being a Princess is making the difficult choices." Celestia told her student, "But, if you'll trust me, I think I have a solution, but I need to speak to the mayor first." Twilight blinked at her, wondering what she could possibly mean. "Shall we return to the party?"

"But don't I need to pack?" Twilight asked, confused.

"I will send someone to assist you later, but I think Spike could probably do with some unbroken sleep." The Princess told her, "Come on, we'll walk back together." She paused to consider Twilight properly, "You know, I believe that crown suits you."

Twilight tried to ignore the blush that spread across her face at Celestia's compliment and the Princess's chuckle as they headed down and out, picking up a couple of cupcakes from the party that had been held in the library on their way out.

"So hungry." Celestia admitted as she ate the slightly stale cupcake, "And this is still delicious."

"Pinkie Pie does make great cupcakes." Twilight agreed, still confused over what her tutor was up to and just as hungry as the alicorn next to her. "Just watch out if she sets out any drinks. She likes hot sauce and she got me with it the other day."

The Princess let out a bright laugh at that, "I might have caught a couple of the servants doing something rather similar not that long ago. I think it might be a prank most ponies try at some point."

"I wish I'd had some warning." Twilight grumbled, remembering her horrendous overreaction, which had at least, resulted in her completing the puzzle. "I chugged the whole bottle before I realised what it was." Celestia started laughing at that, embarrassing the unicorn further. Luckily she had stopped giggling before they reached the party and the Sun Goddess slipped away to talk to the mayor while Twilight was grabbed by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie and dragged onto the dance floor.

Part of her mind stayed on Celestia's words as she lost sight of the alicorn of the sun in the crowds, but she mostly lost herself in the fun of the celebrations. Her mind was completely diverted from everything the moment the buffet table was laid out and she and the other five who had traversed the Everfree Forest and completed Nightmare Moon's Challenge dove on it with aplomb.

She was embarrassed of how high her plate was stacked until she saw Pinkie Pie was just about managing to keep a stack of cupcakes easily as tall as she was from tumbling everywhere. Luckily no pony said anything as the six of them retreated to a table safely away from the crowds around the hastily erected podium and dance floor.

"Rainbow Dash said you'd gone to the library." Rarity commented, once they had eaten enough to stop being ravenous after their long adventure and could pace themselves between bites, "Does that mean you were packing?"

"She did?" Twilight blinked at them, having not thought any pony had seen her.

"Yeah, when I was flying with the Wonderbolts I saw you sneak off." Dash commented, waving a hoof in her direction, "You weren't thinking of sneaking off on us, were you?"

"No," Twilight shook her head, letting out a soft sigh, "I was going to pack and get ready to go, but Princess Celestia and I talked and now I'm not sure what's going on."

"Ooooh!" Pinkie Pie's squeal of delight attracted the attention of some of the surrounding crowds, "Does this mean you'll be staying?"

"Maybe?" That was the best Twilight could offer. "She said she had to talk to the mayor, so she might let me stay but I don't know, I don't want to hold my breath."

"It's okay, I'll do it for you." Pinkie informed her, then took a deep breath and held it, causing Twilight to stare at her in astounded confusion as she tried to work out if the pink earth pony was serious.

"Oookay." Applejack blinked at the extremely bouncy filly. She took a bite of her apple pie before she continued, "Well if yer are stayin' in Ponyville or if yer ever visiting, then yer more than welcome ter stay with us if yer need to, there's always room."

"Thank you." Twilight grinned at Applejack, grateful for the offer, "And the same goes for you girls, we might have to sleep in bundles on the floor, but you're all more than welcome to sleep in my library with me in Canterlot if you ever visit me there."

The fillies all started discussing slumber party plans at the same time, pleasing Twilight who had never actually had a slumber party before, only for the sound of a bell ringing to disturb their chatter. They turned towards the podium to discover that the mayor was stood upon it, looking a combination of delighted and nervous.

"Citizens of Ponyville, this Summer Sun Celebration has been full of trials and tribulations for all of us," She said, "But I am proud that after the initial panic, we all pulled together to keep everything running while things were…unusual. Now however, we can finally relax and I can introduce Princess Celestia and, for the first time in a thousand years, Princess Luna. Please welcome them both to the stage."

The applause that followed was a little hesitant to start with until Applejack and Rainbow Dash started whooping and hollering and then the crowd joined in, cheering and stomping their hooves on the ground as the two sisters stood together in public for the first time since Luna had fallen to the darkness of the Shadows.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts," Princess Celestia started, looking around at the assembled faces, maintaining a benevolent smile and a calm demeanour as she spoke, "I must thank you for your patience over the last few days. I know that your plans did not go off quite as arranged but you all have managed magnificently." That pleased the crowds who nudged and smiled and whispered pleased comments to each other. "There are a few ponies who, though, today would not have been possible without and I would like them to step forward please."

The group at the table froze up as the Princess's gaze turned to them and the crowd's gaze followed. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Applejack as Princess Celestia gestured for them to come up to the podium.

Twilight herself only just managed a bit better as she led the group of six through the crowd, which parted for them, and up to the stand.

"Each of these ponies did something to help this event take place." The Sun Goddess announced, "Fluttershy, organised the music for this wonderful event." The yellow pegasus waved from behind Applejack but didn't emerge otherwise, "Rarity did all the decorating in the hall and I do believe I saw her flitting around to make this square look beautiful too, despite being tired." The white unicorn bowed and looked pleased at the round of applause, "Rainbow Dash cleared the skies and gave up this wonderfully cloud free day to play in." Dash, who had already completed one thing she had always wanted to do today in getting to fly with the Wonderbolts, looked smug at the announcement, "Applejack and her family provided all the food you have been enjoying." That got a rather loud round of applause, "While Pinkie Pie had been organising the whole thing and ensuring that each and every one of you has had fun." Twilight chuckled as Pinkie bounced up and down on the spot at her round of applause.

"You know each and every one of the ponies I've introduced, but the sixth is new to Ponyville and that's my private student, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight waved and scuffed her foot nervously as the crowd turned to stare at her, "I sent Twilight here to keep an eye on the party planning and she did her job most admirably, but when things went wrong, she and the others all went out of their way to do something extraordinary to fix a mistake made a thousand years ago."

Twilight could not help but wonder where Princess Celestia was going with this and she could see the same questions in the looks the others were sharing.

"A thousand years ago yesterday, my sister was replaced by a dark monster who wanted to destroy Equestria and in my folly, I sent her away with the creature. Twilight and her friends did something this morning that I could not. They brought her back to me. Without them, there would be no sun for you to celebrate in this morning and we owe them all a great debt of gratitude."

Twilight was stunned as Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and all the guards bowed to them. The citizens of Ponyville followed suit rather quickly, leaving the six who had traversed the forest staring at each other in shock.

"It is through their Unity and their Harmony that this came to pass and I would be a foal to split them up." Princess Celestia announced as she straightened, making everypony's heads come up to, "So it is with this and the happiness of my student in mind, that I have decided that from this day forth, I am assigning Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville, to continue her studies on the Magic of Friendship."

The cheer from the crowd, who were relieved to have the Elements of Harmony staying with them, in Ponyville, were drowned out by the excited squeals of the group of the six fillies as they hugged each other, delighted that they were not going to be separated.

"I ask that you treat them with all the respect they deserve." Princess Celestia continued, "No matter which shape or form you may come across them in." She continued, obviously referring to the fact that Twilight could transform into an alicorn, "And to you girls, I say thank you, and do not hesitate to visit Canterlot whenever you like. I am certain that we will be seeing a lot of each other in the future."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash saluted, while Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy bowed or nodded. Twilight, however had an entirely different and not completely dignified response and she hugged her teacher tightly, babbling her thanks, having been afraid that Celestia would abandon her if she chose to leave Canterlot.

"No, Twilight, thank you." Celestia whispered back, hugging her too, "And I hope you'll be happier here than you were in Canterlot."

"I will." Twilight promised, a bright grin on her face, though no one could see it, "I definitely will."


End file.
